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(Page 187 ) (The Greycliff Girls in Camp ) 







THE GREYCLIFF 
GIRLS IN CAMP 


By HARRIET PYNE GROVE 

u 


Author of 


“Cathalina at Greycliff” “The Girls of Greycliff” 
“Greycliff Heroines ” “Greycliff 


A. L. BURT 
Publishers 

















THE 

GREYCLIFF GIRLS SERIES 

A Series of Stories for Girls 

By HARRIET PYNE GROVE 

CATHALINA AT GREYCLIFF 
THE GIRLS OF GREYCLIFF 
THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 
GREYCLIFF HEROINES 
GREYCLIFF WINGS 


Copyright, 1923 

By A. L. BURT COMPANY 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


Made in “U. S. A." 


JUL-9’23 

©Cl A711121 










TO MERRYMEETING GIRLS 

With warmest gratitude to Mr. and Mrs. Web¬ 
ster, to whom Merrymeeting Camp owes existence, 
and to Miss Cotteral, the other councillors, and the 
girls, for the interest and inspiration which they 
supplied. 

The characters are all fictitious. The setting and 
activities, with some incidents, are taken from the 
camp life. 

To my daughter, who wrote the Squirrels’ Inn 
entertainment described in chapter twenty-three, 
credit is due for those verses. The words of Camp¬ 
ing Days were written by Marion Buerger of Cin¬ 
cinnati. 



THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS 
IN CAMP 


CHAPTER I. 

THE TRIP TO CAMP. 

The Greycliff girls who had decided to go to 
the girls’ camp in Maine with Patricia West, their 
English teacher, were busy getting ready their camp 
equipment in the short time which elapsed between 
the close of school and their departure for camp. 
School had closed early in June and Merrymeeting 
Camp did not open until July 5th, but Miss West, 
who had been a councillor at camp for several sea¬ 
sons, was to have charge of a delightful and instruc¬ 
tive trip that was offered by the camp authorities 
to any of the older girls who wanted to take it. 
This would give them the opportunity to see Niag¬ 
ara, Toronto, Lake Ontario, the St. Lawrence and 
Thousand Islands, Montreal, and the White Moun¬ 
tains. The trip was so planned that the girls would 
5 



6 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


see the best part of the scenery by day, and would 
have rest at hotels from the necessary sleeping car 
and boat travel. All reservations were made on 
boat and train and at hotels, and in the case of the 
girls leaving with the Cincinnati parties, even bag¬ 
gage was called for at the homes and the tickets 
purchased. 

Letters went back and forth. Hilary Lancaster 
was now living in Cincinnati, which was also Miss 
West's home. Helen Paget and Evelyn Calvert, 
two Southern girls who had been at Greycliff, were 
to join Hilary, visiting her a day or two and start¬ 
ing with her party. Cathalina Van Buskirk and 
Lilian North were to join them at Buffalo; Betty 
Barnes, at Toronto, where she was visiting her aunt. 

“The whole ‘quartet’ of our suite will be together 
on this trip,” wrote Lilian to Hilary, “and more of 
our special friends at camp,—won’t it be jolly? I’ve 
never seen Niagara, nor ever been out of the United 
States. I wrote to Eloise and urged her to come, 
but she says that she can not possibly get ready so 
soon and will have to meet us at camp if she gets 
there at all!” 

It was the last Thursday in June, and the train 
to Buffalo was to leave at 6:05 P. M. Cincinnati 
was steaming with heat during one of those days 
which the beautiful Queen City can serve to its in¬ 
habitants in summer. Perspiration shone on faces 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 7 

and trickled down backs. The Central Union Sta¬ 
tion was like an oven, but cheerful, happy faces and 
lively conversation, anticipatory of interesting ex¬ 
periences, brightened the farewells. 

Both Dr. and Mrs. Lancaster, with Mary, Gordon 
and Tommy, were there to see Hilary and June off; 
for June, to her great delight, was going too. Dr. 
Lancaster had packed the whole family, with their 
guests, Helen and Evelyn, into his car, recently 
presented to him by his congregation, and brought 
them from the parsonage to the station. Already 
Miss West was there, with three first-year high- 
school girls, Jean Marshall, Marjorie White and 
Rhoda Jenkins, known later at camp as “Jenkie” or 
“Jenks”. 

“Think of the cool breezes in Maine,” said Dr. 
Lancaster, as he delivered several small suit-cases to 
their owners and took out a big white handkerchief, 
“to catch his tears”, as Tommy said. 

“Tommy and I are going to> our aunt’s for a 
visit,” said Gordon to Miss West, for he wanted 
it to be known that he was not entirely left out of 
good times. “And Father says that p’raps we can 
go to Boothbay Camp next summer. The oldest 
got to go first in our family!” 

Time sped on as they chatted, till presently the 
iron gates opened and with Miss West and the 
tickets in the lead, the girls passed through. A few 


8 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


friends were permitted to accompany them and es¬ 
cort them to the train. 

“Don’t forget your pocket-book, Jean,” admon¬ 
ished one auntie, through the open window. 

“Yes, do hang on to that, or let Miss West carry 
your money,” added another. 

“I’ve been known to leave my pocket-book,” ex¬ 
plained Jean aside to Hilary. “Please take this 
twenty-five, Miss West.” 

“Be sure to write a card in Buffalo, Hilary,” said 
Dr. Lancaster. 

“O, yes, Father, we’ll write a post-card from 
every single place,” replied June, happily excited 
over the trip, “alone, with only Hilary!” 

It was some time before the train started, and 
how they longed to get away from the hot station! 
The electric fans started and gave some relief. Bags 
or suit-cases were arranged, hats and umbrellas dis¬ 
posed of, while Miss West counted noses and saw 
that each girl was in her own section or knew where 
it was. 

“Let me see. Hilary, you and June are in number 
nine, right over Helen and Evelyn. Too bad you have 
to double in an upper. Won’t you take my berth?” 

“No, indeed; thank you, Miss West. It was our 
fault that we did not decide about June’s going till 
the last minute. I’m thankful that we could get 
the other reservations.” 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 9 

“We are nicely fixed, close together and in the 
center of the car. Don’t forget your numbers.” 

One of the girls had never slept in a Pullman 
before and longed to ask many questions; but 
ashamed to appear ignorant before the others, she 
foolishly would have waited to find out herself as 
best she could, had not June, who was not in the 
least ashamed of not having traveled at night, asked 
Hilary the very questions which gave the necessary 
information. 

At last the train started. The electric lights, 
which had added so much to the heat, were turned 
off. “O, goody, we’re moving!” exclaimed June, 
settling comfortably back by Hilary, who had put 
June next to the window and was fanning them 
both. “Goodbye, dear old Cincy, we’re going to see 
lots of rivers and lakes and boats and things before 
we get back to the Ohio and the Island Queen or 
the Morning Star.” 

Candy boxes came out immediately and were 
passed around, but to Miss West’s surprise and re¬ 
lief, the girls tasted sparingly. 

“No, thanks,” said Marjorie, as Jean offered her 
a box of chocolates, “I promised Mother not to 
touch candy till the trip was at least almost over. 
She wanted me to get there all right. And any way 
this is my summer to reduce. I have to take a dip 
every morning, get to breakfast on time, go on the 


10 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


hikes and everything. And here old Jean eats twice 
as much as I do, and see how nice and slim she is.” 

“It's in our family to be skinny,” remarked Jean. 
“I like what you say about my eating twice as much 
as you do,” she continued, grinning at Marjorie. 
“No, thank you; I had two caramels and a bonbon. 
See? I brought along an Atlantic Monthly to show 
how high-brow I am. Auntie bought it for me, 
though.” 

Different magazines were produced and the girls 
settled down quietly to read, chat, or watch the 
passing scenery. As night drew on, cooler air 
came in the screened windows. The girls, tired with 
the heat and the activities incident to their depart¬ 
ure, were glad to get to their berths as soon as the 
porter made them up. 

“How do we ever get up there, Hilary ? ” asked 
June. 

“O, the porter will bring a little ladder and will 
help us up; and in the morning we’ll press a little 
button to ring for him and he’ll help us down again.” 

The tips of brown or black oxfords peeped from 
beneath the green curtains behind which quiet, well- 
behaved girls were quickly preparing for the night. 
“Here's the hanger for our coats, Helen,” whispered 
Evelyn. “Maybe we can get our dresses on it too.” 

“Let's use that for our dresses, they’re longer. 
I’ll get a hanger out of my suit-case for the coats. 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 11 

or we can fold them and put them on the shelf. See 
these hooks? You just pull them out straight. We 
certainly shall never need that blanket!" 

“No telling, when we get up near the lake. Why 
do they always have the pillow on the end toward 
the engine ?” 

“I don't know. I'm going to double mine up so 
I won’t break my neck if the train bumps when it 
starts or stops." 

“Mother said if we wanted to sleep on our val¬ 
uables not to tuck them under our pillows where 
any thief could get them by slipping in a hand, but 
to put them inside a pillow case and turn the open 
end of that toward the inside." 

“I'd go off and leave them in the morning! The 
only safety for me is to have them pinned to me, I 
guess." 

“All right, girls?"—in Miss West’s quiet voice, 
as she paused by the various curtains. Soft replies 
assured her that everybody was comfortable and 
soon quiet reigned in the car, except when the porter 
passed through with some late arrival from one of 
the towns at which the train stopped. 

“I can’t go to sleep, Hilary," whispered June 
about midnight. 

“Are you comfy?" 

“O, yes!" 

“Well, don't worry; nobody will sleep much, I 


12 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


suspect, this first night. We’ll be at a hotel tomor¬ 
row night. Maybe we can rest and doze a little. 
It’s getting cooler, isn’t it? Let’s draw up the 
blanket.” 

Assured that it could not hurt anybody if she 
did not sleep, June promptly dozed off. Such is 
the power of suggestion. 

Breakfast over at Buffalo, the girls were writing 
cards home while waiting for the train to Niagara. 
While they were thus engaged in a corner of the 
waiting room where they had deposited their bag¬ 
gage and one or two parcels which had already been 
added to the impedimenta, a bright face peeped 
around the corner. “O, here they are, Cathalina!” 
and with this Lilian North, smiling and happy, made 
her appearance. 

Everybody jumped up. “Where were you chil¬ 
dren?” inquired Hilary from Lilian’s embrace. 
“We thought you had missed a train or something.” 

“No, Phil brought us in the auto, rather the chauf¬ 
feur did, but Philip was the official care-taker. 
Here he is, with Cathalina.” 

Hilary was wondering how Lilian happened to 
come in the Van Buskirk car, but there was no time 
to ask at this juncture. 

Meanwhile Philip was saying to Cathalina, as 
they approached, “My, Kitten, must I be introduced 
to all that bunch?” 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 13 


“O, yes, and remember ’em, Phil, if you can. 
You know Hilary, of course, and that is June, her 
little sister, and Evelyn is that graceful little thing 
farthest away. You’ll know her by her Southern 
speech, and Helen, too,—with her rather especial 
drawl. I don’t know the rest myself. There’s 
Patty, too, just joining them.” 

Evelyn’s eyes and lashes, drooping or raised, went 
into effect immediately upon introduction, and 
Philip’s courtesy responded to her grown-up ways; 
but as there were two many girls for one young 
gentleman to entertain, he remained by Lilian most 
of the time, holding her extra coat and hand-bag 
with entire content. At train time, however, Philip 
helped as many of the girls as possible, settled them 
in the train, shook hands all around, kissed Catha- 
lina and swung himself off in good time. Many 
girlish eyes followed him, and their last view was 
of a tall, good-looking, dark-eyed boy, touching his 
hat and looking chiefly at—Lilian. 

“I never saw Phil so taken with a girl,” whisp¬ 
ered Cathalina to Hilary at the first chance. “We 
were motoring through and stopped all night at 
Rochester, when whom should we meet at the hotel 
but Lilian and Judge North. The Judge had busi¬ 
ness at Rochester and was going to put Lilian on 
the train for Buffalo. We could have gone to Char¬ 
lotte, of course, to wait for the boat from Toronto, 


14 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


but both Lilian and I wanted the whole trip with 
you girls. We had a fine visit yesterday as we 
drove,—I was so glad for Mother to know our 
Lilian better, and Lilian was at her brightest and 
sweetest and prettiest/’ 

“And that is rather attractive,” inserted Hilary. 

“You can see that the Judge just loves her to 
pieces.” 

No sooner was the party off the train at Niagara 
than a capable official appeared. Arrangements 
were at once made with him to transport the party 
by auto to the station from which they would next 
depart and to take them upon the sight-seeing tour 
as soon as their baggage was safely checked. 

Through the park, to different points where the 
American or Canadian Falls could best be seen, the 
girls rode or walked with little conversation. They 
stood silently before the majesty of the waters, 
watching the feathery flow over the American Falls, 
or a glittering green cascade on the Canadian side. 
On little bridges which led to rocky islands, they 
watched the whirling rapids above the falls. Some¬ 
times the mist blew into their faces. 

“May we go under the falls, Miss West?” 

“No, Marjorie; we’ll just do the safer, ordinary 
things.” 

“That suits me,” said Hilary. “I want to look at 
the things the Creator made. Everything else 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 15 


seems like a blot on the landscape, cheap, some way/ 1 

‘'Well, perhaps,” answer Helen. “Still, we could 
not see the Falls as well if they did not have the 
bridges, you know. Wouldn’t you’ve liked to be 
the first person that ever saw Niagara Falls?” 

“Prob’ly some Indian.” 

“Yes, June, that didn’t know what he was coming 
to and went over in his little canoe!” 

“Now, Marjorie!” reproved Helen. “You can 
hear the thunder of it a long way off, and I’m sure 
that any sensible Indian would have landed his 
canoe long before he came to the big rapids.” 

The falls of Niagara never cease to arouse wonder 
and admiration no matter how many times the tour¬ 
ist may have visited them, and these girls were no 
exception to the rule. The amazing whirlpool rap¬ 
ids, where, tossing and tumbling, the foaming waters 
of Niagara river swept through the great gorge, 
impressed them almost as much as the falls them¬ 
selves. The day itself, with its fresh breeze and sun 
upon the dancing waters, more than compensated 
for the tiresome trip of the night before. 

Lewiston and a customs officer came next. At 
first the girls wondered why the herding of the 
crowd through the little gate to the dock, but the 
questions asked about their luggage made them re¬ 
alize that they were temporarily leaving their native 
land. So unmistakable a group of school-girls and 


16 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


teacher, however, with the camp tags on suit-cases 
and bags, was passed on everywhere without any 
trouble. They were soon on board the boat for To¬ 
ronto. 

Out of the Niagara River into Lake Ontario the 
steamer moved, and it was not long before the water 
front of Toronto appeared through gathering fog 
and evening shadows. 

“Does Betty know that we’re coming tonight ?” 

“I think not, unless she looks up the time-tables. 
She knows that she is to leave tomorrow afternoon, 
and that we are to be at the Queen’s Hotel. You 
will have plenty of time to visit with Betty on the 
boat tomorrow and the rest of the way,—let us have 
a good night’s rest, enjoy seeing Toronto tomor¬ 
row morning,—” 

“O, please, Miss West,” begged Cathalina. “Just 
let us call her up!” 

“We shall see,” returned Miss West, weakening 
a little. 

But by the time they had reached the Queen’s 
Hotel, nice conservative old place with an English 
atmosphere and a “royal suite,” the girls only 
wanted to get to bed as soon as possible. 

“I’m on foreign soil,” sleepily murmured June as 
Hilary tucked her in, and Hilary herself was too 
sleepy to laugh. 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 17 


CHAPTER II. 

DOMINION DAY IN CANADA. 

When Lilian woke the next morning, she dream¬ 
ily looked toward the light of a grey, rainy morn¬ 
ing and noticed the lace curtains stirring in the 
breeze. “How appropriate/' thought she, “a crown 
and 'The Queen's’ woven in the pattern.” She 
glanced at Hilary and June sleeping in the double 
bed near. “Here we are, then, in Canada,” closing 
her eyes. “I wonder if Philip will come up to camp 
as he said lie would . . . isn't he fine? . . . 
how dark his eyes are ... I wonder . . . and 
Lilian dozed off into an enchanting dream of mo¬ 
toring somewhere with Philip Van Buskirk, not 
waking till Cathalina, who fit nicely right into the 
dream, was shaking her and saying, “Wake up, Can¬ 
ada Lily, do you know we'll disgrace our nation 
and not get down before the dining room closes!” 

Rested from their warm baths and good sleep of 
the night, fresh, smiling girls gathered in the break¬ 
fast room of “The Queen’s”. Miss West was proud 
of them and their quiet, dignified behaviour. 


18 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


“What do you think we had for breakfast, 
Mother ?” wrote June a little later. “Strawberries 
and cream—thick cream! Think of it, on the first 
of July! Fm going to begin in March in Cincinnati 
and go north to follow up the berries till the season 
ends in Canada. I ordered ‘oatmeal porridge’ be¬ 
cause it sounded so English, ‘bean porridge hoi’, 
you know,—and it was the best breakfast food I 
ever ate. They had ‘English breakfast tea’ on the 
menu, too, but I couldn’t order that because I wanted 
cocoa, m’m, so good! Some of the cocoa you get 
traveling is horrid. But I’ll never forget those 
big, ripe, juicy berries that the waiter brought me. 
I felt selfish because mine happened to be the big¬ 
gest. But you couldn’t change, of course, any¬ 
way, in public. Our waiter looked just like the 
English valet I saw the other day in a movie, so 
dignified and serious. 

“I’ve gotten the traveler’s guide and things from 
the office and have learned that Toronto was founded 
as a French trading post with the Indians in 1749, 
and that it covers forty square miles. The name 
is from an Indian word and means ‘place of meet¬ 
ing’. The land was ‘sold to the Crown in 1787 by 
the Missisauga Indians for $85.’ Think of it. It 
is the capital of the Province of Ontario and has a 
population of five hundred thousand. I don’t sup¬ 
pose I shall remember this, but I promised Father 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 19 


that I’d try to learn some little thing about each 
place. I may add some more to this after we have 
taken our ride in the sight-seeing ’bus. Miss West 
has the tickets already; you can get them right in 
the hotel. We are to start about noon, for we had 
our breakfast so late that we shall not want any 
lunch till at least two o’clock. We are all packed 
up now, and leave on the boat about four o’clock, 
I think. We haven’t seen Betty yet, or even called 
her up. When we started to, we found that nobody, 
not even Cathalina, knew her aunt’s name or tele¬ 
phone number, but Betty knows when we leave 
and I’m sure she will be here or at the boat on time.” 

“Come, girls,” said Miss West, “all ready for 
the trip and packed up to start after lunch? We’ll 
eo down to the lobby and see if the taxi has ar- 
rived.” 

And such an immense taxi it was. “I feel like 
a monkey,” declared Jean, “climbing with both 
hands and feet up this tippy height!” The party 
occupied only two of the long seats, and those in 
front had been reserved for them. The man of the 
megaphone was hatless and active, collecting the 
tickets as well as imparting information. “There 
are two persons who have not surrendered their 
tickets,” he announced, counting tickets and pas¬ 
sengers. 

Miss West looked up inquiringly. “I have all 


20 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


your tickets together/’ he assured her. As the same 
announcement was made several times later, the 
girls concluded that it was a polite way of telling 
that two fares had not been paid. 

At once the girls noticed that the city was dec¬ 
orated with flags and that the stores were closed. 
“This is Dominion Day/’ announced the mega¬ 
phone, “same as your Fourth of July.” Everything 
was “Limited”, “Imperial”, “Royal”, “Dominion”, 
or “Queen’s”, according to June. T. Eaton’s seemed 
to be as important in Toronto as Marshall Field’s in 
Chicago, and an unusual feature in which the girls 
were interested was the display of pretty gowns or 
other articles for sale in the front or bay windows 
of what had once been private residences, now ab¬ 
sorbed into the business part of the city. 

“How do you feel, June,” asked Cathalina, “un¬ 
der the Union Jack?” 

“All right. You’ve been in so many foreign coun¬ 
tries that I suppose it does not seem strange to you.” 

“I never happened to be in Canada, and it is just 
as interesting as it can be!” 

Different monuments and churches, Queen’s 
Park, the University of Toronto and the Parliament 
building engaged their attention, and as they rode 
through Rosedale, a pretty residential section, the 
girls wondered if Betty’s aunt lived there. At the 
hotel again, it was great fun to trail after the porter 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 21 


who showed them the royal suite; but time was 
pressing, and while Miss West settled the bills the 
girls started for the dock, within easy walking dis¬ 
tance. Still no Betty! 

“I meant to get a picture of that funny little hotel 
’bus,” said Marjorie. “Is that our boat? Isn’t it 
cute?” 

“You’ll be the death of me yet,” laughed Jean* 
“A steam-boat cute!” 

“What’s its name?” continued Marjorie undis¬ 
turbed. 

“The Toronto; see?” 

“Salve, Toronto! Vale, Toronto!” remarked 
Hilary. 

“What does that mean?” asked June. 

“It means ‘hail, Toronto,’ the boat, and ‘fare¬ 
well, Toronto,’ the city.” 

As they came nearer the dock, some one jumped 
out of a taxi and waved. It was Betty at last. 

“Why, Betty,—all alone?” 

“Yes, Miss West, company came unexpectedly. 
I had a time to get packed up at all. But fortunately 
Auntie had bought my tickets yesterday, and my 
trunk came down this morning. I have been think¬ 
ing of you all and could hardly wait to see you, 
but Auntie said you that would be taking in the 
city anyway. That was to console me.” 

The girls were fortunate in getting seats out in 


22 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


the very front of the deck. Their baggage had been 
taken to the little staterooms, cameras and field 
glasses brought out, and they settled themselves in 
great content for the trip by water from Toronto to 
Montreal. So far there had been so much sight¬ 
seeing that the visiting had been only incidental, 
though by this time the Greycliff girls felt pretty 
well acquainted with the three girls—Marjorie, Jean 
and Rhoda—whom they had so recently met. 

Betty and Cathalina compared their adventures 
since they had parted at Greycliff. 

“Mother said ‘how could she spare her little Betty 
so soon/ for this little visit to Auntie first, then for 
nearly all summer at camp, home for just a peep 
at the folks, and school at Greycliff again!” 

“Mine felt that way, too, but she said that it was 
a good opportunity for me to have the experience 
of a girls’ camp, while so many of us could be to¬ 
gether and while we had darling old Patty to take 
care of us.” 

“O, there are lots of councillors to do that.” 

“Yes, of course, but then we know Patty so well.” 

“Is Isabel coming, or do you know, Cathalina?” 

“Yes; I had a-letter from her soon after she got 
home. Her father had said that she could come. 
Did you know that Virginia Hope went home with 
her for the summer?” 

“No. I rushed off home, you know, the first min- 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 23 


ute I could. That was lovely of Isabel, and of Mr. 
Hunt, too.” 

“I suppose that Virginia will come to camp with 
Isabel, but she did not say so, and it might be that 
Virginia made other plans later. We shall know 
when we get there,—naturally.” 

‘‘There is Jean sitting by herself. Come on over 
here, Jean,” and Betty hitched her chair along to 
make room for Jean’s. 

“I was just dreaming and watching the water,” 
said Jean. “Don’t you love it?” 

“Yes, I never get tired of it,” answered Catha- 
lina, “but Betty and I were talking about some of the 
girls we know at school.” 

“O, yes; what is this ‘Greycliff’ you girls talk 
about ?” 

“I’m afraid you would be sorry if we got started 
talking on that subject, but it is a girls’ school, pre¬ 
paratory, with two years of college work, and Patty, 
Miss West, you know, teaches there. That is how 
some of us found out about camp, because she is a 
councillor there, too. Betty and I, with Lilian and 
Hilary, are in a suite together. Phil calls us the 
‘suite quartet’, which is an awful pun. Philip is my 
brother,—O, yes, you met him at Buffalo. Of course 
you know about Helen and Evelyn, and we were 
just saying that perhaps two of the younger girls 
at Greycliff—Isabel Hunt and Virginia Hope— 


24 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


would be at camp this summer. Isabel wrote that 
she is coming, but did not speak of Virginia, and 
Virginia is visiting there. She wrote a scrap of a 
letter only and did not think of it, I suppose. Then 
there is another of our especial friends whom we 
hope to see, Eloise Winthrop, a lovely girl that I’m 
sure you will like.” 

“Isn’t it funny how you always get crazy about 
the school you go to?” 

“O, I don’t know, Jean,” replied Betty. “You 
see Greycliff is unusual!” 

“Last call for the first sitting.” Thus from time 
to time the different dinner calls came. Dinner on 
the boat started at six o’clock, but the girls had de¬ 
cided that they did not want tickets. This was con¬ 
trary to their usual custom, for Miss West consid¬ 
ered that regular meals were a necessary part of 
travel. But the late and excellent lunch at the 
Queen’s, together with a fine supply of sandwiches 
and pickles brought by Betty, and a quantity of 
fruit brought aboard by Miss West, made the girls 
lose all interest in dinner. 

“Besides, you know, we’d better be careful if we 
have to stay on the boat all night.” This from Mar¬ 
jorie, as the girls were drawing their chairs close 
together and Betty was passing out sandwiches and 
pickles. 

“Don’t give her any more pickles, then, Betty . 99 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 25 


“All right, you shall have the rest, Jean. I love 
to see you so careful of Marjorie!” 

“Let’s stay out on deck as long as possible; may 
we, Miss West?” 

“Just as long as you like tonight,” replied Pa¬ 
tricia, who herself enjoyed it outside. But they 
had nothing to dread, for the lake was calm; no 
motion of the boat was felt except the throbbing 
of the engine. Gulls flew high or low or rested on 
the water. It was cloudy and the sun, round and 
orange, slowly sank through and below the clouds, 
leaving for a little while a golden glow upon the 
water. The girls played a few of the guessing 
games when it grew dark, but finally the time came 
when the little god of dreams claimed his own. 
For some time June had been sitting with her head 
on Hilary’s shoulders, when Miss West declared 
that the procession for the staterooms would “now 
start”. 

“Don’t ring the bell as I did,” admonished Jean, 
“I thought it was the electric button. You pull 
down the light and press the button to ring. After 
I made the mistake I locked the door and skipped 
out, so I wouldn’t be there when the maid came.” 

“You needn’t have worried. I was just across 
from you with my door braced open to air the place, 
and nobody came.” 


26 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


“Thanks, Betty. You take a heavy load off my 
conscience!” 

Nothing disturbed the serenity of the night. The 
girls were wakened by an early stop at Kingston 
and soon found themselves taking breakfast with 
the second “shift” in the dining-room. They were 
to transfer to the other boat at Prescott, but the 
Toronto was going very slowly on account of a 
heavy fog, and finally anchored for nearly an 
hour. When the fog lifted, however, the girls found 
a bright day before them. The turning of the 
capstan when the anchor was drawn up interested 
them not a little. The transfer was made to the 
boat which was to take them through the rapids. 

From now on to Montreal the scenery was beau¬ 
tiful. It was the broad St. Lawrence with its Thou¬ 
sand Islands and rapids. The Merrymeeting girls 
were down in the dining-room when the first rapids 
were reached, and one or two looked anxiously at 
Miss West, who smiled reassuringly, and soon the 
churning waters were left behind, with nothing but 
one little grinding scrape to remind any one of 
rocks as the boat went through. “And perhaps that 
was our imagination,” admitted June, as they dis¬ 
cussed it later. 

“Pm getting enough rocks at last,” remarked 
Hilary. 

“Why, do you like them so much?” 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 27 


“Yes, Rhoda, ever since we started into the St. 
Lawrence I’ve been saying ‘I love Thy rocks and 
rills. Thy woods and templed hills’, even if these 
are not all of my own country. Look. There 
seems to be a sort of red rock as the foundation of 
the islands. There’s a dear little one that I’d like to 
own. Think of a cottage there among the trees 
and a place for the water birds to build in the 
rocks!” 

“You wouldn’t like it in winter, would you?” 

“No, nor in summer without a launch. But you 
mustn’t be so practical, Cathalina, can’t one have 
a little fancy?” 

“Dear old Hilary! Purr-rr! Her shall have her 
little island!” 

“Campbell likes the water, too. Wouldn’t Thou¬ 
sand Islands be a lovely place for a honeymoon ?” 

“Sh-sh, Lilian, the other girls might hear and 
Hilary wouldn’t like it.” 

“I should think Hilary wouldn’t,” commented the 
young lady herself. “Please, girls, why are you so 
silly?” 

“Well,” said Lilian, “when a certain young man 
finds out that a certain young lady is going to a 
camp and immediately takes steps to get himself ap¬ 
pointed as councillor at a camp very near and under 
the same management, it looks as if there were some 
connection anyhow!” 


28 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


Hilary smiled, but made a little pouting face at 
Lilian, as she moved over to where Marjorie and 
Rhoda were focusing their field glasses on more 
rapids ahead. 

“O, the most interesting thing, Hilary,” cried 
June. “I heard a gentleman tell his wife that there 
is only one pilot who can take the boat through 
the rapids, and he has to go up every day to do it. 
He learned it from his father, and his son is watch¬ 
ing him to learn how.” 

“And did you notice,” said Rhoda, “how he 
pointed out the ‘American’ or the ‘Canadian’ side? 
They are Canadians, too. It seems funny to me, 
for they are in America as much as we are.” 

“Yes,” said Hilary, “but the books do it. It 
seems to be general.” 

“Look,” said Marjorie. “See how the steamer 
changes its course, always going in the more quiet 
water. I can pretty nearly tell where we’ll go. 
See the water tumbling over there! Big rocks, I 
guess.” 

“Yes, and did you hear the man say what a de¬ 
scent there is?—I can feel the boat going down 
hill!” 

“We are really and truly shooting the rapids,” 
said June with great satisfaction. 

Mt. Royal, from which Montreal takes it name, 
could be seen long before the last rapids were 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 29 


reached. Everybody was invited to the front of 
the boat while an official talked about the rapids, 
the Indian village on their right, and other points 
of interest. Safely through the Lachine Rapids 
the boat glided and reached Montreal at last. Some 
of the girls in the crowded motor ’bus, a few in 
a rickety victoria, the Merrymeeting party rode to 
the hotel where they were to remain two nights. 


CHAPTER III. 

VICTORIAS AND FURS. 

It was eleven o’clock the next morning before 
the girls were finally rounded up for breakfast or 
lunch, as they might choose to call it. For this 
they went to an attractive place not far from the 
hotel where June again found ripe strawberries, big 
and luscious. 

“You’ll turn into a strawberry, June,” said Hil¬ 
ary, but June only pointed to the dishes of the same 
natural product on all the other trays in the cafeteria 
procession, as she replied, “I don’t eat so many 
more than the rest of you,—I just say more about 
it.” 

“By the way, Miss West,” continued Hilary, 
“we’re going in victorias, aren’t we?” 



30 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


“How many vote for victorias ?” asked Patricia, 
“hands up.” Every hand at the little table went 
up, and as the girls at the table close by had heard 
the question, theirs as well were lifted. 

“It is already arranged. Several of you had 
spoken of it—victorias it is. Now for shopping. 
I will go with Marjorie, Jean and Rhoda, for they 
seem to have the most to do. The rest of you meet 
us at the hotel in not less than an hour. There is 
a drug store right here on the corner, a department 
store half block in that direction. Keep in mind 
this corner and the way to the hotel. Hilary, you 
are in charge.” 

Hilary pretended to be much honored and the 
rest of the girls began to joke her by asking if 
they might do the most obviously proper things. 
But they had little shopping to do and arranged to 
meet at the entrance of the big store. 

“Listen,” said Cathalina, as they were returning 
to the hotel. “That boy has a French paper. I’m 
going to get one. I had no idea that Montreal was 
so French, though I heard some French spoken on 
the boat, of course.” 

“I heard a lady say that Montreal is fifty per 
cent French, and that of that fifty per cent ninety 
per cent can not speak English.” 

“No wonder, then, Betty, that they have both 
French and English on the shop signs. I should 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 31 


like to spend a summer up here some time. No need 
of going abroad to keep up your French!” Later, 
Cathalina discovered that McGill University has 
many such summer pupils. 

Duly at two-thirty, three victorias, drivers high 
in the air, rolled away from the hotel to see the 
Canadian city of Montreal. 

“O, I feel so English,” sighed Marjorie. 

“Me, too,” said Rhoda, “but I think they ought 
to be called 'Queen Marys’ now instead of vic¬ 
torias !” 

“Did you notice, Rhoda,” drawled Helen, “what 
our elderly waiter said to you last night?” 

“About my “am sandwich’? Wasn’t I good not 
even to smile?” 

“You were indeed, and so were the rest of us, I 
think, though Lil gave me one look that almost up¬ 
set me. She kept as sober as an owl, of course. I 
didn’t want to make fun of any one, but I never 
heard the h’s dropped, outside of a book or a movie.” 

“Did you ever hear it in either?” 

“Well, you know what I mean!” 

“Gently, girls, the driver might hear you,” warned 
Miss Patty, who made the fourth passenger in this 
vehicle. 

The first place at which the driver stopped was in 
front of Notre Dame Cathedral. The girls ran up 
the broad stone steps which led to the entrance. 


32 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


Silently they entered, viewed the brilliant interior, 
the altars and shrines with their candles, walked 
quietly down the aisle to the right past a kneeling 
worshipper who was telling her beads before a 
shrine, and into a part of the building to the rear 
of the altar. 

“I can translate that,” whispered Marjorie to 
Cathalina as they looked at the inscriptions upon 
the wall. “ ‘Silence in the holy place’.” (Silence 
dans le lieu saint.) 

“Notice the Latin inscriptions, too,—‘Oculos ad 
nos converte’—” 

Hilary lingered a little to drop a coin into a box 
and came out with her eyes full of tears. “I’ve been 
brought up in another kind of service,” she ex¬ 
plained to June, “but this touches me some way.” 

“It’s the Lord’s house,” replied June solemnly. 

“And some people’s faith and hope.” 

“Des Jardins,” read Cathalina on the windows 
of a store where the victorias were stopping. “I did 
not catch what the man said and I was in the last 
victoria,” she expained later to one of the party, 
“so imagine my surprise, after having translated 
it ‘gardens’ and expecting to find flowers, to see 
this wonderful fur store.” 

A great display of furs it was. The girls all 
longed to buy some at the summer prices, but had 
not planned for any large expenditures on this trip. 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP S3 

“Mother usually buys her furs up north/’ said 
Betty, “since Auntie lives there, you know.” 

“Look at the darling white moccasins!” Hilary 
and June immediately decided to purchase a pair 
for Mary, and several of the party bought the bead- 
trimmed, leather moccasins before they left Mon¬ 
treal. 

The ascent of Mt. Royal was made by easy stages, 
around a beautiful, winding drive, past rocks and 
grassy slopes, interesting varieties of trees and 
bushes, skirting a bridle path part of the way, till 
finally the “look out”, “La Terrasse d’Observatoire 
au Mont-Royal” was reached and a fine view of the 
city and river obtained. 

“Just see me come up here some summer,” said 
Cathalina, as she leaned upon the parapet next to 
Betty, “and read French while I live in some French 
family and talk it all the time.” 

When evening came, it was decided that in view 
of the long trip the next day no outside entertain¬ 
ment should be sought. 

“Let’s make it unanimous for bed,” suggested 
Hilary, who intended in any event to see that June 
was early in the land of dreams. , 

“I vote with Hilary,” said Jean. “My brain can’t 
hold so much at one time. I can’t remember all I’ve 
seen today!” 

Helen, Evelyn and the three younger girls were 


34 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


with Miss West in a suite of two rooms and bath. 
Hilary with June and Lilian, and Betty with Catha- 
lina were in adjoining rooms not far away. Like the 
girls, Patricia dropped to sleep early, thinking about 
how perfectly everything was going about the trip, 
and how lovely and sensible her girls were. “And 
Cathalina has had so much experience in traveling.” 
But if she had known what was happening that night 
scarcely the proverbial forty winks would have been 
hers. 

Waking early, and dozing uneasily for a while for 
fear that she would oversleep, Miss West rose and 
dressed, wakened the girls that were with her, saw 
that they were really roused and getting ready, and 
went to call the rest. In the room occupied by Cath¬ 
alina and Betty she heard voices as she tapped on 
the door. “Up already, are you ?” she said, as Betty, 
fully dressed, threw open the door and several some¬ 
what excited voices began, “O, Miss West,—” 

“Where did you find the pocketbook?” Hilary 
was asking Cathalina. 

“Right there, on the floor.” 

“And was nothing but the money gone?” 

“That was all.” Cathalina was quite cool. 

“What is this?” asked Patricia. 

“Why, Miss Patricia, I seem to have been robbed 
last night,—but don’t worry. I don’t mind, really, 
though I wish I’d spent it yesterday!” 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 35 


Miss West sat down on the bed. “Do you mean 
to tell me that your room was broken into last night ? 
Tell me all about it. Did you wake up and see the 
robber?” 

“Mercy, I hadn’t thought that we might! 
Wouldn’t it have been terrible? There isn’t much 
to tell. You see we didn’t lock the door—” 

“I thought you girls always did that,—. O, if 
I had only come and tucked you all in!” 

“It wasn’t your fault at all, and really we meant 
to lock the door as usual. Indeed we do lock it, 
Miss West. You see, we were waiting for ice water 
and got too sleepy to have any sense, I guess. We 
rang and the boy didn’t come, and then we waited a 
while and were just nearly falling over with 
sleep,—” 

“After being out in the air all day,” inserted 
Betty. 

“But your door should have been locked until he 
came.” 

“Yes; we didn’t know it wasn’t. I put a tip on 
the table to have it ready, and I finally crawled into 
bed with my Kimono on, after ringing again,— 
and I woke up with it on this morning! The door 
was wide open, my purse on the floor and the money 
gone. Please don’t scold. Miss West; truly we 
won’t be so careless again.” 

“My dear, I never felt less like scolding, and am 


36 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 

only too thankful that nothing happened to you and 
that you were not awakened or frightened. But it 
is odd, Cathalina, for I thought of going in again 
to see if you were all right, then I thought ‘Catha¬ 
lina has traveled so much that she will let me know 
if they need anything' and went off to sleep more 
peacefully than usual! Do you remember how 
much was in the purse?” 

“About twenty dollars, I think. I have some be¬ 
sides, that wasn’t in the pocketbook, and my check¬ 
book.” 

“I was going to say that I can attend to all your 
expenses, of course.” 

“Shall I write Mother about it?” 

“I wouldn’t send a telegram,” Betty suggested 
with a laugh. 

“When you get safely into camp she will not 
worry. You can write the details then. It is safely 
over now and will teach us all a lesson in making 
sure that it is not too easy for some thief to get 
our money.” 

“It must be great to have your own check-book 
and money in the bank,” whispered June to Hilary. 
“Is Cathalina awful rich?” 

“ ‘Very,’ not ‘awful,’ corrected June’s elder sister. 
“Yes, you know how much I have told you 
about their lovely home and servants and every¬ 
thing. Cathalina has about everything she wants.” 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 37 


“I will speak to the hotel people about it, but I 
fancy that we shall never see the money,” Miss 
West was saying to Cathalina. “Perhaps we can 
find out whether the bellboy ever came or not.” 

There was little time for any detective work. 
Breakfast must be eaten, bags packed, and an early 
departure made to the train. Cathalina dismissed 
the matter, and by the time the party was on the 
train bound for Portland everybody else seemed to 
have forgotten it. Patricia had an occasional shiver 
whenever she thought of her sleeping girls with their 
door opened by some prowler, but the necessary ar¬ 
rangements of the present often most fortunately 
crowd out the too vivid memory of some unpleasant 
occurrence. 

“Here’s our last look at Montreal,” said Evelyn, 
as the train drew away from the city. “There are 
two square towers of Notre Dame.” 

“Goodbye, Mt. Royal,” and June waved her hand 
blithely. Too many good times were ahead of them 
all for regrets. 

“This is the Canadian Pacific bridge, I suppose,” 
said Rhoda, “that we saw when we came down the 
river,—yes, there is the Indian village that hasn’t 
any streets.” 

“I’ve seen my last French sign, I guess,” re¬ 
marked Cathalina. “It was at the crossing. ‘Trav- 


38 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


erse Du Chemin De Fer’ was one cross-piece and 
‘Railroad Crossing’ on the other.” 

They were comfortably settled for the all day 
trip to Portland in a chair car and looked very 
serious when an official appeared to ask them if they 
had bought anything in Canada. They began to 
open their suit-cases or bags and told of their moc¬ 
casins at once, but in their sincere faces the most 
suspicious of custom officers could find no guile. 

“It’s the Green Mountains that we see first, girls, 
then the White Mountains. The conductor said so.” 
Jean was looking at the map in her folder. “And 
we’re not in the United States right away after 
crossing the St. Lawrence.” 

As Hawthorne’s Tales of the White Hills are us¬ 
ually read in that department of school work known 
as “English”, these girls were quite interested 
in finding, among post cards bought on the train, a 
photograph of the “Great Stone Face”. “I hadn’t 
thought of it myself,” said Patty, “that these are 
Hawthorne’s White Hills at last.” 

“This scenery is the most lovely of all we have 
seen,” said Lilian. 

They had been watching the clouds floating about 
the hill-tops, little cascades leaping down the rugged 
heights, pretty glens, little streams, lakes and rocky 
cliffs. Yet beautiful as the scenery was, no one 
could keep in a state of rapture all the time. At 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 39 


intervals Cathalina read her French papers. Other 
papers and magazines were passed around, or the 
girls chatted happily about many things. It was a 
day to be remembered, and interesting to have cele¬ 
brated “Dominion Day” in Canada, this “glorious 
Fourth”, or most of it, in New England. 

“What do you think about it, girls?” asked Miss 
West of a few near her, as they were nearing Port¬ 
land. “Was it worth the trouble to take the trip?” 

“I wouldn’t have missed it for anything,” cried 
Marjorie, and seemed to express the general senti¬ 
ment. 

A sight-seeing trip in Portland the next day 
showed them its buildings and parks, and Casco 
Bay with its schooners, sail-boats and freighters of 
all sorts. On Congress Street they saw the home 
of Longfellow, “next to Keith’s!” This struck the 
girls as particularly funny. “ 'From the sublime 
to the ridiculous’ both literally and figuratively,” 
said Hilary. 

The journey to Bath seemed incredibly short in 
comparison with the long trips which they had been 
having. It was the Maine country, with its butter¬ 
cups, daisies, wild roses, evergreens, and the aged 
rocks peeping out here and there,—and now they 
had arrived at Bath, with nothing but a boat ride 
between them and camp! 


40 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


CHAPTER IV. 

CAMP AT LAST. 

“Our luck has turned, girls; it poured at Portland 
■and is drizzling hereF’ 

“But we’ve had lovely days for all the important 
sight-seeing. Do you remember how perfectly 
bright and wonderful it was that day on the St. 
Lawrence? The water sparkled and foamed, and 
the sky was so blue,—” 

“Listen to Lilian, our optimist,” spoke Hilary. 
“She's our mascot for good weather. By the way, 
Miss West, I have to get some sneakers and a bath¬ 
ing cap in Bath.” 

“So do I,” said Evelyn and Betty together, 
whereat they turned, made mysterious signs and 
repeated “thumbs” together. 

“How many million years have girls done that?” 
asked Patricia. “We shall have quite a little shop¬ 
ping to do at Bath, but all the stores are near to¬ 
gether. I need ink, some tablets and magazines. 
Whoever comes down the river for us will probably 
have a lot of errands to do, as usual. We’ll do 
ours and then go down to the dock and wait. It 
will not be later than four o’clock, I think, when we 
start up the river.” 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 41 


“It was the little Papoose from the boys’ camp 
that came for them. On account of the drizzle, 
the canopy was up, an affair not unlike the top of 
a prairie schooner, but, alas, not as high. Some 
of the occupants had to assume a bending posture. 
Helen^ declared that she had a “puhmahnent cuhve” 
in her back, and for weeks Hilary referred to the 
submarine stunt of their first arrival. But it was 
fun to peep out at the water, the rocks, and the 
green trees that lined the banks, and the Papoose 
safely chugged her way to Merrymeeting. 

“Here we are; hooray for Merrymeeting!” cried 
Jean, as she stepped upon Merrymeeting’s floating 
dock and ran lightly up to the more solid portion 
above the washing of tides; for the Kennebec is 
affected by the sea tides, and as far up as Merry- 
meeting Bay there is a difference of from six to 
eight feet in the depth of the water, according to 
the tide. 

Up the little rise they filed to the level ground 
which stretches broadly at the river front and holds 
the big dining hall and the boat house; then again 
they proceeded up the gradual ascent to the Club 
House, which is the center of Merrymeeting life. 
There the girls were welcomed and assigned to the 
different “Klondikes” or cottages. The other 
campers and councillors had only arrived at noon, 
hence a scene of great activity. Basins and pitchers 


42 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


were being given out. Cots and mattresses were 
being placed or changed in tents and klondikes. 
Trunks were being delivered and directions of all 
sorts given. In spite of the damp grass and misty 
atmosphere, everybody seemed happy, the old 
campers glad to get back. 

“You don’t know how lovely it is here, ,, said one 
and another to the new comers. “Wait till the sun 
comes out!” 

Already Marjorie, Jean and Rhoda had joined 
girls whom they knew in school in Cincinnati. Hil¬ 
ary knew a few more of them, though she had not 
lived there very long. The Greycliff girls had asked to 
be together, but Patricia explained that assignments 
were usually made on account of age. “We have 
Seniors, Intermediates and Juniors. And then you 
don’t want to be in a separate group, do you ? There 
are girls from several different private schools and 
high schools in different cities, East and West. You 
will lose sight of other organizations and just be 
Merrymeetiing campers together.” 

“That is much better,” acknowledged Hilary at 
once. “I did not think of it. Of course we don’t 
want to be a little club by ourselves!” 

“However,” continued Patricia, “for another rea¬ 
son I want to put you four Greycliff room-mates to¬ 
gether. Helen and Evelyn are to be together in a 
different klondike. June will have to go to “Laugh- 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 43 


a-Lot”, and I shall be there, for a while at least.” 

“O, good!” exclaimed June, who had felt a slight 
qualm at the idea of being separated from Hilary. 

“Here, Frances Anderson,” called Patricia to a 
tall, fine-looking girl who was passing. “Aren’t you 
at Squirrels’ Inn ? I thought so. Please show these 
girls where it is—Hilary Lancaster, Cathalina Van 
Buskirk, Lilian North and Betty Barnes,—” with 
which brief introduction Miss West was off to see 
about some affairs of her own, June’s hand tucked 
under her arm. 

“Squirrels’ Inn!” exclaimed Lilian. “Our fu¬ 
ture residence?” 

Frances was friendly and enjoyed initiating the 
girls into the way of camp. They stood chatting a 
few minutes, then moved on over the wrinkled gray 
rocks and grass around the Club House toward 
Squirrels’ Inn. But a gay voice called them before 
they had gone far. 

“Cathalina Van Buskirk! HilandLil! Betty! O, 
joy!” From the ‘‘Wiggly” side of the double cot¬ 
tage called Piggly-Wiggly, who should come run¬ 
ning but Isabel! “Have you seen Eloise? She’s 
down at her klondike getting settled.” 

“At Squirrels’ Inn?” 

“No; the one down by the pine grove. May I 
come over with you? I was just over with Eloise 
and met Helen and Evelyn going to the same cot- 


44 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


tage. There are a lot of girls down there. We’ve 
got a house full too. Such doings! I’m crazy about 
this place already.” 

On to Squirrels’ Inn they went and met their 
young councillor, with two more girls, Marion Thur¬ 
man and Nora McNeil. A busy time followed. 
This klondike at first arranged its cots on one side 
and trunks on the other. Wiggly, where Isabel es¬ 
corted the girls later, had a cot and its trunk, then 
another cot with its accompanying trunk, and so 
on, around the big room. “I like your cottage,” 
said Isabel, “because it has that back porch hang¬ 
ing over the hillside, so convenient for drying or 
sunning bathing suits or bathrobes.” 

“Trust Isabel for finding all about a place in a few 
hours,” remarked Cathalina. “It would be a month 
before half that Isabel sees in two minutes would 
make any impression on me.” 

“Why, I thought you had traveled a good deal, 
Cathalina; don’t you notice things?” 

“Yes, what I’m interested in, but Isabel sees 
everything.” 

“O, Mother only put in two sheets!” This came 
from Betty, who was diving into her trunk. “Yes, 
here are some more.” 

“My, Cathalina, your steamer rug looks nice over 
your cot!” 

“I’ve got a big grey army blanket.” 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 45 


"Just look at Betty’s Indian blanket! Who gave 
it to you, Betty?” 

"My Aunt; I got it this summer in Canada.” 

"I think we’d better spread our ponchos over our 
cots, don’t you ? It’s so damp tonight.” 

"I haven’t any.” 

"Very likely there are some at the office that you 
can buy. You’ll probably want one.” 

"I have a good rain-coat.” 

"Just the thing; spread that over your blankets 
tonight.” 

"There’s the supper bell. We have dinner at 
noon, supper at six. Come on, that’s the second 
bell.” 

The old farm bell hung high, as it had when 
Merrymeeting was a farm and was swinging and 
ringing cheerfully, while one of the little girls pulled 
the rope, by orders from headquarters. Down hill 
the girls ran or walked to the big dining-room with 
its long tables. 

"We can look right out on the lake, can’t we?” 
said Betty. 

"River, you mean, don’t you?” 

"Yes, of course; but doesn’t it make you think 
of a lake someway? It is so broad here.” 

"It makes me think more of the St. Lawrence,” 
said Cathalina, "with the islands and the rocks and 
the pretty rippling water.” 


46 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


“Those little islands are the Burnt Jackets. Didn’t 
you notice that your boat rocked a little coming 
through the Burnt Jackets? The Indians named 
them. ,, 

At supper it was announced that the first Camp 
Fire would be at the Club House shortly. The bell 
would ring. Duly the big family assembled, stop¬ 
ping, many of them to look at the glorious rain¬ 
bow which was appearing in the East. “O, it’s 
double, girls!” said Isabel. 

“Didn’t you ever see anything like that before?” 
asked one superior damsel, going on inside. 

“Chile, dat means it’s goin’ to cleah up,” replied 
Evelyn in her best dialect. 

Within it seemed like bedlam for a while till a 
whistlev blew and one of the older girls took charge 
as leader of songs and cheers, and one of the coun¬ 
cillors who sat on the floor among the girls tuned 
up her “light guitar”. There was a piano, but it 
was not used at this first Camp Fire. In the big 
fireplace the wood fire glowed and cracked, drying a 
long line of shoes which stood before it, filling the 
Assembly Hall with comfort and good cheeer, and 
reminding some of the campers from the hot cities 
that they were up in Maine. 

“A few things to be remembered, girls,” said the 
head councillor. “The first bell in the morning will 
be for the dip, at seven o’clock, but there will be 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 47 


none tomorrow morning, not until the next Friday 
morning. At five minutes of eight the bell rings 
for setting up exercises. Come promptly, down by 
the dining-room. Breakfast is at eight. Right after 
breakfast you go back to your klondikes to get them 
in order for inspection. You receive a certain num¬ 
ber of points for neat order and a banner goes every 
week to the most orderly klondike. 

“The plans for the games and the teams will be 
announced. We are going to have all kinds of good 
times. You all have a special place to fit in and 
will be on a team. There will be a hare and hounds 
chase soon, a Mystery Hunt that I can not tell you 
about or it would not be a mystery, tournaments 
and a swimming meet and a picnic down at the boys' 
island. Until the canoe tests no one is allowed to 
go out in a canoe. And only in groups of three or 
more may you go into the pine grove. We never 
have had prowlers, but take no chances. No girl 
ever goes off the grounds, and your councillor should 
always know where you are.” 

“About the candy, please?” 

“When any candy is received in camp, the girl is 
called to the office, opens the box herself, is given 
half a pound and the rest goes into the general sup¬ 
ply. Occasionally a dish of candy will be on each 
table at the dining-room. And by the way, Lilian 
North has the first box of candy. Go and get it for 


48 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


her, Frances. Come, Lilian, it came before you ar¬ 
rived. You may open it and pass it around now if 
you like. ,? 

It was quite evident that the box was a surprise 
to Lilian, but she rose to the occasion, opened the 
big box on the table in the little room at the end of 
the assembly hall, slipped the card it contained into 
her sweater pocket, and amid applause and cries of 
‘'What’s the matter with Lilian North?” or "Speech, 
speech!” passed the box around, first throwing little 
handfuls of bonbons into the laps and upstretched 
hands of the smaller children. 

"My, your father is good to you!” exclaimed June 
innocently, as Lilian sat down by her chums again. 
Hilary looked mischievous and Cathalina pretended 
to lean against Betty for support. Lilian’s cheeks 
were rosy with blushes, but she carried it off well 
and kept her hand on the card in her pocket till 
she should have a good chance to look at it privately. 

"Everybody in on this yell!” announced the cheer 
leader: 

"One, two, three, four! 

Three, two, one, four! 

Who for? 

What for?” 

What y’ going to yell for?— 
Merrymeeting!” 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 49 


CHAPTER V. 
from Lilian's diary. 

July 6, Thursday. 

I see that this little book is going to be full before 
the summer is over. It is just as well that Father 
gave me this pretty diary with the key, for some of 
the things I shall write will be very private and spe¬ 
cial. I do not believe, though, that I shall write 
out my thoughts much. I did that once, and they 
seem so silly afterwards, when you have gotten 
older. However, I’m nearly grown up now. 

Last night there was a gorgeous rainbow and this 
morning when we started down to breakfast every 
little spider had its cobweb out, (tune of “ev’ry little 
wave had its white cap on, white cap, night cap, 
white cap on”), and that means a nice day. Sure 
enough, it wasn’t long before the sun shone out and 
showed how perfectly lovely it is up here. I’m wild 
about the scenery. One of the councillors said that 
the bay looked like “liquid sapphire”, which was 
very good indeed, for it reflected the blue of the 
sky. I’ll try “liquid sapphire” in a “pome” some¬ 
time. Merrymeeting Bay is on our right, to the 


50 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


west of our point, and is where five rivers meet. 
It certainly does look funny to see the current, or 
apparently the current, going the wrong way be¬ 
tween our point and that of the mainland opposite 
on into the bay. I thought at first this morning 
that the way I had considered down stream must 
be up stream and that I had been turned around 
as to directions. But I soon found that this was only 
the tide coming in! We are six or seven miles from 
Bath and almost fourteen from the sea, I believe. 
There is the dearest island just inside the bay. 
Somebody lives there, for we see a house and boat. 

The girls call the gymnastic exercise that we have 
just before going in to breakfast the “upsetting ex¬ 
ercises”. It is fun, for the athletic director gives 
us some exercises different from any I ever had be¬ 
fore. My voice lessons have made me able to do 
the deep breathing performances easily. I didn’t 
take much gym last year in school, had too much else 
to do, or thought I had. 

At breakfast there were some announcements, 
about how many points one makes in the different 
things, for orderly klondike, for being quiet in rest 
hour, and after the last bell rings at night. I 
couldn’t begin to remember it all. But I can find 
out gradually, I think. Then we get points for 
hikes and the games, and for bringing in the wild 
flowers and identifying new birds. I’m going to 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 51 


see how many I can make. Each year there is a 
silver cup given to the best all around camper among 
the seniors, among the juniors and among the inter¬ 
mediates, and on your head-band you can have the 
cutest things for what you have done. Frances had 
so many on the one she got last year. Everybody 
has M. C., for Merrymeeting Camp, and two cun- 
nin’ little pine trees on each side of those letters. 
Frances has a tennis racquet, a volley ball, a base¬ 
ball, a paddle, a shoe (for hiking), and the dearest 
little musical notes. I think I can get the notes, 
and I’m pretty good at tennis, though I’ve never 
played the other games. Old Hilary will shine in 
basketball. How I’d love to get the Merrymeeting 
ring or a pin, but not very many get those, I guess. 
You can not buy them, just win them. 

At eleven o’clock we had our first swim, in the 
cove by the pine grove. That makes a good rhyme 
and I’m going to' put it in a song perhaps. It is 
the most fascinating place! You feel like an Indian 
stepping on those generations of pine needles and 
do not make a bit of noise. There is a narrow 
winding path with sweet fern and other ferns and 
green moss and all sorts of pretty things by it, just 
before you get in under the thickest trees. Then 
you climb down over roots and stones to the big 
rocks that line the cove. This is almost a complete 
circle of rocks, well, there is quite a space where 


52 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


they have a rope and pole beyond which the girls 
do not go. Cathalina said we all looked like mer¬ 
maids. She didn’t go in this morning as she took a 
bit of cold on the boat. The swimming teacher was 
there and in a boat near were two more of our gentle¬ 
men, ready to rescue us, I suppose, if we did any¬ 
thing foolish. The girls who can not swim paddled 
around where the water is shallow. It is only at 
high tide that the cove is well filled, they say. We 
have a swimming teacher, an athletic director, a 
doctor, a nurse, and more interesting folks that I 
do not know yet. All the girls that I have met are 
pleasant and friendly and are of all descriptions as 
to size and looks. Some of them are tutoring a little 
with some of the councillors. 

Now the most interesting thing of all. I had a 
box of candy from Philip Van Buskirk. It seemed 
to be a four or five-pound box and was full of the 
most delicious kinds that just melted in your mouth. 
Philip certainly does know how to choose candy. It 
was sent from New York and he must have mailed it 
as soon as he got home. Word was sent me from 
the office by one of the little girls that a box was 
there for me, but I thought that it was just the 
middies that were to come from home, and in 
the midst of getting settled I forgot about it till 
it was announced at the Camp Fire and the box 
brought in. It flashed over me that perhaps Phil 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 53 


had sent it, because he had been so perfectly lovely 
to me from the time we met at Rochester. We talked 
music and other things almost steadily or we all 
sang together and Phil has a perfectly adorable 
voice. And when he put down my coat and things 
on the train as we started to Niagara he bent down 
and said close to my ear, “You are going to hear 
from me soon.” I looked up at him and laughed, 
and just then Cathalina spoke to him. 

Philip has been brought up to do all the nice 
things that gentlemen do when they can, but I don’t 
believe that he is a flirtatious boy and I do believe 
that he really likes me and that we can be good 
chums whenever we meet. I am crazy to hear him 
play. Imagine having him play an accompanimnt 
for me! 

But I’m not finishing about the box. I slipped 
the card quickly into my pocket and looked at it 
afterward. “Philip Van Buskirk” looked so dis¬ 
tinguished, and so does he, for that matter. The 
girls were lovely, did not ask me a word about it, 
although I know Hilary was dying to be sure that 
it was from Philip. He is very kind indeed, but 
there is no reason for being silly about it. He prob¬ 
ably sends candy to other girls. His manners are 
just perfect, and he seems so grown up and serious, 
some way. I ought to write a little note of thanks, 
I suppose, or would it do to tell Cathalina,—no, that 


54 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


wouldn’t do. O, I didn’t bring a bit of real good 
stationery along! I refused to write to any of the 
boys at home, said I wouldn’t have time but would 
send cards to the entire crowd. They were all so 
good to me the short time I was home. 

This afternoon the girls had a circus in the big 
barn and initiated all of us new girls. It was a 
circus, indeed! Some of them were painted up as 
clowns and looked perfectly killing. The old girls 
got it up with the help of the athletic director. We 
girls sat on the hay in the high mow and slid down 
or climbed down when wanted to take the center of 
the “stage”, which was on the main floor, also 
covered with hay. Some of the stunts were very 
funny. Hilary and I had to sit down back to back, 
with our arms locked,—in each other’s,—and then 
we were to rise. We couldn’t do it at all and got 
to laughing so that we just fell over in the hay! 
Several other pairs of the ones to be initiated tried 
it and we all declared that it couldn’t be done. Then 
it was announced that two councillors would try it 
and show us how it could be done. We thought that 
it would be a joke on the two councillors that were 
asked, but didn’t they do it, though not without 
some trying! There was great applause. 

We had some visitors up from the boys’ camp 
and Brushwood Lodge, where fathers and mothers 
can stay. Some of their councillors were up, but 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 55 

we didn’t see anything of Campbell. If Hilary 
teases about Philip, I must not forget Campbell’s 
interest in her! 

As Isabel says, “more anon”. I’m afraid that this 
will be a scrappy diary. I’m sitting on my cot 
to write. Nobody is in the klondike now, but 
Nora McNeil, whom some of the girls call “Pat” 
or “Irish”. I think that sounds a little too much 
like boys. Not many of the girls have nicknames, 
but those that have do not seem to mind it. 

It must be nearly time for the supper bell,—yes, 
there it is. 

Isabel ran in at this moment and carried Lilian 
off with her. “I brought over Cathalina’s sweater. 
She left it in Wiggly after the circus. Say, Lilian, 
I’ve counted eighteen canoes beside the war canoe. 
It holds seventeen by actual count of seats. Aren’t 
they the prettiest things?—that deep blue and all 
painted up new!” 

“You are like Shakespeare, Isabel, closing up 
your speech with two lines that rhyme.” 

“What?—O, 'blue’ and 'new’. Yes, I’m a great 
poet.” 

“Can you paddle, Isabel?” 

“Just a little, but I want to learn to do it well. I 
can swim if I do tip over, but I want to be an ex- 


56 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


pert, ha-ha!” and Isabel struck an attitude of great 
dignity. 

“I think that most of the Greycliff girls can swim, 
but I want to get the strokes that this teacher will 
give us. I do think it important to be a good swim¬ 
mer if you have the opportunity to learn. Father 
will be so delighted if I do these things.” 

“We’ve been assigned to tables. Goodbye; I 
must hunt mine up.” 

Lilian found herself with a new councillor and 
a group of girls entirely unknown to her, but it 
does not take long for campers with common in¬ 
terests to become acquainted. 

“Who serves first?” asked one. 

“The girls next to me,” replied the councillor. 
“Two serve for three meals, then two others the next 
day, and so on, moving around the table.” Little 
girls, as little used to responsibility as Cathalina 
had been, took hold as cheerfully as could be, and 
brought in plates of bread and butter, pitchers of 
milk, dishes of steaming potatoes or platters of 
well-browned fish. 

“Did you see the big fish ?” asked one of the girls. 

“No; what fish?” 

“There was a four hundred-pound sturgeon 
caught up the river.” 

“Four hundred pounds! You are joking.” 

“No, indeed. We asked how they got it into the 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 57 


boat, and they said it was just like a log, too heavy 
to fight. They cut it up and shipped it to Bath 
in a barrel!” 

“What a fish story!” 

“No, honest, some people that live on the river 
caught it.” 

“Ting-a-ling,” the bell at the head councillor’s 
table. First a bird hike was announced for an 
early hour the next morning, the bell to ring at a 
quarter to six. Our Greycliff quartet especially gave 
attention to this and nodded at each other as mem¬ 
bers of the Greycliff bird club. 

The next announcement created universal joy 
and was to the effect that the Aeolus and Truant 
would take out the campers for a ride on the river 
and that the girls who had been at Merrymeeting 
before and could paddle might take out the war 
canoe. There was great applause and a hurrying 
on the part of the experienced paddlers to select 
paddles and run or slide down to the dock. 

As Lilian and Hilary walked down, one little girl 
came up the hill crying. “O,” said Lilian, “what 
is the matter?” 

No response. 

“Come on with me and have a good time,” said 
Lilian coaxingly. 

A councillor appeared hurrying up the slight as¬ 
cent after the child. “She is homesick,” she ex- 


58 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


plained, “and when she thought she could not sit 
by me she said she wouldn’t go.” Kindly the young 
councillor led her along and finally got her on the 
boat. The girls saw her later, contentedly watch¬ 
ing the gulls which flew about the landing as the 
boats started. 

Everybody had been longing to get out on the 
water on this ideal day. Blue, rosy or golden, the 
sunset colors stained the waters with like reflected 
hues. The start of the war canoe was funny indeed. 
No one was in practice and as Isabel said, the pad¬ 
dles were going in ragtime in spite of the regularly 
called time. But by the time they were fairly out 
in the river the paddles swept in unison. Girls sat 
both within and on top of the Aeolus, and out on the 
front and rear of the Truant. A pretty sight it was 
as they floated out into the sunset, and there we 
may leave them, knowing that we shall find them 
in their klondikes in the morning. 


CHAPTER VI. 

A COSTUME PARTY AND A TRIP TO BATH. 

Squirrels’ Inn contained a congenial group. 
There were the four Greycliff girls, Cathalina, Hil¬ 
ary, Lilian and Betty, with whose characters and 
talents we are fairly familiar by this time. Frances 



THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 59 


Anderson was one of the strongest girls in camp, a 
good, all-round, dependable girl, having ideas of 
her own, but what the girls called a “good sport”. 

Nora McNeil was as tall as Frances and had soft, 
fluffy black hair, big blue eyes, and the complexion 
that goes with this Irish combination. She was 
slight and active, as happy as the rest to be in camp, 
for this was her first year, too, and she was experi¬ 
encing all the thrills of a first time. 

Marion Thurman was an Eastern girl, using the 
soft a’s, the r’s omitted or softened in certain places 
and put in in others, characteristic of New England 
speech. Her long hair was in shining black braids 
that usually hung Indian fashion over her shoulders. 
Large, expressive hazel eyes, a straight nose that 
was Isabel’s admiration, and a sweet mouth, gave 
expression to a very bright, attractive face. 

All the girls were sensible, having no trouble over 
the daily program of keeping the klondike in order, 
going for the water, and performing the other 
small duties of common interest. Nobody was too 
lazy or selfish to take her turn, or refused to do it 
at the proper time. The Greycliff girls declared 
that Frances, Nora and Marion must all come to 
Greycliff for the next school year. Isabel and Vir¬ 
ginia Hope came over once in a while to sputter 
about two or three girls in Piggly-Wiggly and on 


60 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


this particular morning were sitting on the top of 
two wardrobe trunks in Squirrels’ Inn. 

“Bess Snider is a perfect baby!” Isabel was say¬ 
ing as she swung her heels. “At first she was home¬ 
sick. I did not blame her for that, still when there 
are girls that would almost give their heads to come 
up here it does seem so silly.” 

“You can’t help homesickness, they say, Isabel.” 

“I bet I could,—just think about something else.” 

“That is what I did,” assented Cathalina. 

“The next thing, Bess wanted to get out of dip 
and games and things and got up headaches and 
pains of all sorts?” 

“Are you sure she was pretending?” 

“No, and I’m not telling it around, but it was 
awfully funny how she could always do the things 
she wanted to do! But she could never take her 
turn about sweeping, and we were always hanging 
up her bathing suit to dry for her. If she could 
get anybody to do anything for her she would. If 
anybody even started to the club house it was 
‘O won’t you please take this, that or the other thing 
for me.’ Tve carried up her laundry and brought 
her a drink of water and brought stamps for her 
and mailed her letters till I’m tired of it. She is 
getting over some things, but when she takes off 
her clothes at night she drops them right on the 
floor, even her good things, and she makes us have a 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 61 


bad inspection every time the camp mother comes 
around, unless we watch her up.” 

“She is just spoiled,” laughed Cathalina, with 
memories of a time not so far back when she had 
hated to do anythink for herself. 

“There are several girls here who have maids at 
home,” said Isabel, “and they don’t do that way; 
tliey think it’s fun.” 

“I’d like to be spoiled once,” said Virginia, glow¬ 
ing beneath her second layer of freckles. She 
dropped from the trunk, sank upon the nearest cot, 
limply fell over on the pillow, and with a drawl, re¬ 
marked, “Izzy, would you mind bringing me my 
comb? I left it on your trunk. And Cathie, do 
bring the water for me, that’s a dear. My head 
aches so this morning. I think it’s a mistake about 
its being my turn, anyway. My, I’m hot after 
games!” and Virginia fanned herself with the end 
of her middy tie. 

“Pretty good imitation, Virgie,” said Isabel. 
“She probably wouldn’t have played the games, 
though, would have had a bad ankle or arm, or a 
pain somewhere.” 

“I couldn’t play yesterday,” said Betty. “I had 
taken cold in my shoulder or something. Do you 
suppose any one thought I was lazy?” 

“If they did, they’ll find out differently before 
the summer’s over,” replied Virgie. 


62 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


Poor little Virginia had never been “spoiled” 
enough, or had enough real love in her life those 
last hard years on the ranch. But she had come 
out of it with a tough, firm little body, and a gal¬ 
lant little soul with which to meet adventures, good 
or ilf. 

“I am surprised at you, Margaret Virginia Hope,” 
said Lilian, “that you are so hard-hearted toward 
Bess and condone Betty’s sins!” 

“Please cut out the Margaret, Lilian. Don’t you 
remember how I told you that I had absolutely 
changed my personality? Margaret and Maggie 
died on the ranch.” 

The girls recalled Virginia’s unhappy little story, 
confided to them, of the handsome-looking but 
rough-speaking and high-tempered stepmother 
whom her father had brought to the ranch, and how 
at last when her father found out the state of affairs 
he had sent her away to school and promised that 
she should not return for a time, if he could man¬ 
age it. Virginia had been afraid that she would 
have to go back this summer and help, but her 
father’s finances improved till he found that he 
could afford to send her with the girls to camp. 

“What are you going to wear, girls, at the cos¬ 
tume party tonight?” 

“I’m one of the men,” said Frances. “They al¬ 
ways have me for one because I’m tall and have 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 63 

short hair. I’m going to have Cathalina’s scarlet 
sport coat and other appropriate togs, a burnt cork 
mustache, and a cane. We must pick our cor¬ 
sage bouquets this afternoon.” 

“O, yes; you have to get one.” 

“Yes, the gentlemen all send corsage bouquets to 
their ladies fair, call for them, take them to the 
party and take them home again. My young lady 
is ’way over at Pine Lodge, so I’ll call for her with 
my coach and four.” 

“Four feet, I suppose, yours and hers,” interpo¬ 
lated Virgie. 

“Or I shall dazzle her with the headlight of my 
new Rolls Royce and startle all the mosquitos and 
caterpillars abroad.” 

“I remember, you just bought a big flashlight.” 

“And gently convey her delicate form,—” 

“May Furniss is one of the fattest girls in camp!” 

“Why spoil my lovely tale, Isabel? Yes, May’s 
pretty plump and lots of fun, and as I’m almost 
the tallest and skinniest, we’ll be quite a pair. We 
couldn’t invite any girl in our own klondike, so I 
selected May.” 

“I’m to be a man, too,” said Betty. “I’ve gath¬ 
ered a lot of the pretty red wood lillies already for 
the bouquet.” 

“Land, Betty, don’t you remember who you’re 
taking?—It’s me!” exclaimed Virginia, somewhat 


64 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


ungrammatically, to be sure, but forcefully, and 
wouldn’t red lilies match my hair, though!” 

“Sure enough,” said Betty, frowning, but your 
hair isn’t—” 

“Yes it is,—sandy, anyhow. And I’m really 
much obliged to you, Betty, for forgetting it. I 
wish I could.” 

“Never mind, Virgie, I’ve a lot of white elder and 
some pretty green and I’ll pick some buttercups and 
Canada lilies,—you’ll be a 'symphony’ in white and 
gold. Don’t worry. Your beau’ll send you the pret¬ 
tiest bouquet of the lot,” said Betty, laughing, and 
put her arm around the shoulder of the little “for- 
lorne hope” who had been so sensitive, so hungry 
for love and praise, and who had worshipped at 
the shrine of these older girls as much as ever Isabel, 
or Avalon Moore, had done. Even Marion Thur¬ 
man, who in speech and manner was as nearly the 
opposite of the talkative little Westerner as could 
be, had taken a great fancy to both Isabel and Vir¬ 
ginia and enjoyed their quite frequent visits. 

“Listen, Marion; say your name for me, please.” 

Marion complied. 

“There! What did I tell you, Isabel. She can 
say r, just doesn’t in certain places. She gets it in 
Marion, but leaves it out in ‘Thuhman’. See?” 

“All right Virgie, you win. Say f-l-o-o-r* 
Marion.” 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 65 

Goodnaturedly Marion repeated the word, for 
these youngsters amused her, and secure of her Bos¬ 
tonian background, she it was who thought their 
speech peculiar.” 

“ ‘Flo-uh’,” repeated Isabel. “Evelyn calls it 
‘flo\ Isn’t it the most interesting thing?” 

“Turn about is fair play,” said Marion. “How 
do you pronounce w-a-t-e-r?” 

“Wawter,” replied Isabel promptly. 

Correct, go to the head. Some of the Western 
girls say ‘wahteh’, so flat.” 

“Not many of us,” said Virgie; “besides, we say 
wawter, not ‘wawteh’.” 

“I don’t see the difference,” said Marion. 

The after-dinner rest hour found some of the 
girls reading, some napping, and others getting cos¬ 
tumes ready for the evening. A few declared that 
it was too much trouble to get up anything special. 
“I’m just going to wear my linen camp suit,” said 
one of the girls in Isabel’s klondike. 

“We were told not to wear real party dresses, 
only simple summer dresses.” 

“O, I borrowed Marjorie’s pink georgette with 
lovely little flowers on it! Marjorie wanted me to.” 

“You may as well take it back, then, and put on 
one of your own frocks; don’t you remember the 
head councillor said ‘no borrowing’ of good things ?” 

Helen Paget was going as Burnt Jacket, the In- 


66 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


dian whose wet jacket, hung too near his camp fire 
on the island, had given it its name. Hilary was 
to be his Indian maid. Isabel was to be a pirate, 
and borrowed “Mother Nature’s” rubber boots, to 
be decorated with red paper. 

“I don’t know whether Captain Kidd wore boots, 
or not, but I should think he would,” said she. 

A dangerous looking cutlass was made from a 
long curved stick, a pasteboard handle attached. 
A cardboard knife was covered with tin foil, which 
did not prove very durable when the knife was 
brandished in Isabel’s most ferocious style. 

The character taken was often chosen because 
of the possibilities for the costume which each girl 
saw in her wardrobe. Evelyn said that she would 
name her character after she got dressed. Perhaps 
the chief fun of the party consisted in getting ready, 
and the wonder was where the girls had managed 
to get so many ideas and such a variety of costumes, 
simple but effective. But the party itself was a 
great success. The girls acted out their parts with 
spirit, copied the manly walk of their brothers and 
friends, used exaggerated courtesy and devotion 
toward their companions. 

One of June’s little friends in Laugh-a-Lot looked 
especially dainty in her light summer frock and car¬ 
ried a corsage bouquet of wild roses and daisies. 
Her escort was a red-cheeked Spanish gentleman 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 67 

with a fierce mustache and a mild expression. The 
gym teacher marshalled the couples in a grand prom¬ 
enade in the assembly room. By pairs and fours, 
platoons or circles, they marched or wound in and 
out. After this, they still promenaded and several 
engagements took place quite publicly, declarations, 
acceptance and the placing of the ring followed 
each other in rapid succession. Isabel swaggered in 
a trifle late with a stunning pirate bride, veil and 
all, and a “take her from me if you dare” expression. 

“If the company will get quiet,” announced the 
cheer leader, blowing a whistle, “while Madame 
Patti (Lilian) sings ‘O Dry Those Tears’, the dis¬ 
tinguished Captain Kidd will be united to Miss 
Lucretia Borgia Vamp.” 

With much harmless nonsense and laughter the 
costume party went on, but closed quite early, for 
there was to be a trip to Bath the next day. As 
girls whose day has been quite taken up with many 
interesting activities are not loth to be “early to 
bed”, the flashlights danced happily toward the dif¬ 
ferent tents and cabins. 

Everybody could go to Bath upon this first occa¬ 
sion. The regular morning program, with the 
games, was carried out, and the girls were to come 
to the noon meal ready to go to the boats. Many 
of them had been planning little shopping lists. 

“What have you to get, Flo?” asked Miss West 


68 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


of one of the “old girls”, as she served those at her 
table to the hot dinner. 

“I have to get a chocolate sundae and bring home 
a chicken sandwich,” promptly and soberly returned 
that young lady, not at all understanding why Pa¬ 
tricia should laugh at the expression “have to get”. 

“Haven’t you any real necessities?” 

“O, yes; I have to buy a present for my father.” 

“O, dear,” said Betty, who happened to be at 
Miss West’s table this week, “they said we could 
only buy a little half-pound box of candy.” 

“I’ve made a bet with my councillor that I’ll not 
touch a piece of candy for a week. If I lose I have 
to give her a box of candy and if I win I don’t get 
anything.” 

“A clear conscience, Flo,” suggested Betty. 

“That’s funny,” said another of the girls, “why 
wouldn’t you get anything?” 

“You see, I was the one that did all the betting. 
She wouldn’t.” 

“Wait till I get home,—I’m going to have a reg¬ 
ular candy eat 1” This was a pretty little girl from 
Laugh-a-lot, and so fat that she was almost square. 
“But Mother said that was one reason she was send¬ 
ing me to camp, so I wouldn’t want sodas and candy 
every other minute.” 

“What are you going to buy, Marjorie?—if it’s 
not too inquisitive to ask, I need to have suggestions 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 69 


on things I may need.” Betty pulled out her list. 

“A pair of hiking shoes, another pair of sneakers, 
besides, of course, some candy and a sundae. Which 
is the best place for sundaes ?” 

“Will the girls,” came the announcement from 
the head table, “whose parents want them to have 
shoes in Bath, please rise? I have the list, but 
want to be sure that there is no mistake. What are 
you standing for, Mary?” 

“I need rubbers.” 

“And you, Bertha?” 

“I need rubbers, too.” 

“Very well. But girls that need rubbers will not 
go with this group. These girls will start first 
with Miss West, who will buy their shoes. They 
will go in the Truant and leave at once with a few 
others that I will send.” 

“Going to Bath” at camp is like going “down 
town” or “upstreet” at home. It is surprising how 
many little errands one thinks of when separated 
from the shops. The weather, too, makes more 
difference when at camp and dependent upon boats. 
But how great the advantages! How the girls all 
loved the camp life, enjoying all the more the occa¬ 
sional trips to the towns about. Today there was 
perfect weather, the river never more blue from 
an almost cloudless sky. An eagle swept across 
above the boat. A kingfisher dived into the water 


70 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


near the shore. Yellow-billed gulls floated up and 
down with the movement of the waves. A little sand¬ 
piper hurried his flight from the rocks not far away 
to a grassy cove. The girls sang happily the Merry- 
meeting songs till all the shore dwellers must have 
known who was passing. As they passed Boothbay 
Camp, a few of the boys who happened to be about 
waved and gave the Boothbay and Merrymaking 
yells. 

Arrived at Bath, each feminine party, with some 
councillor, applied itself to the delights of shopping, 
whether necessary or not. Patricia’s party bought 
the desired hiking shoes or other covering for ac¬ 
tive feet. 

Just before time to go to the boat, a certain 
time having been agreed upon, one of the drug stores 
was almost full of girls, and, indeed, councillors, 
having a sundae or soda before departing. Sudden¬ 
ly two of the little Juniors came rushing in and 
up to Miss West. 

“O, Miss West, we’ve spent all our money and 
have just found the darlingest gold lockets, only 
five dollars and a half, and we want to send one to 
our mothers. Please, Miss West! O, my daddy’ll 
settle for it right away. Yes, he will. Yes, my 
mother will want it and I don’t want it for myself 
at all. Please!” 

The tears were very near, as the children worked 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 71 


themselves up to the point that they must have the 
lockets and that it was mean that Miss West would 
not lend them the camp money or her own. But 
Patricia was firm, though kind, and succeeded in 
turning their attention to something else. Catha- 
lina, who sat at a little table near whispered to 
Miss West that she would lend them the money. 
“O, not for the world,” she replied. “Their par¬ 
ents have left money for them at the office and they 
can spend only so much. Of course they have no 
idea of the value of money, and we must manage 
for them.” 

But it was a very well satisfied group of children 
that started for Merrymeeting about four o’clock 
that afternoon, with their little boxes of candy and 
other trifles, as well as the more important things 
for which they had come. 


CHAPTER VII. 

MORNING IN MAINE. 

One would not think that forty or fifty girls could 
go on a hike without making such a noise that any 
well regulated bird would immediately take to the 
deepest wood. Under the direction, however, of 
the little lady whom the girls affectionately called 
“Mother Nature”, “Birdie”, or “Puss in Boots” 



72 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


when she donned rubber boots, the first bird hike 
was quite successful. The girls slipped quietly down 
the grassy road, or stood on the rocks together, and 
the little Maine warblers who were out getting their 
breakfast never paid a bit of attention. The big 
pine tree by the side of the road was full of pine 
siskins, and every so often a Maryland yellow-throat 
would pop up from some bush, exhibit his bright 
yellow breast and black mask, and drop back again. 

The Greycliff girls, of course, had brought their 
field glasses, in the hope of discovering new birds 
in a different state. ‘‘Not a bit of wind this morn¬ 
ing, and warm,” said Hilary, “so of course the birds 
are out.” 

‘T don't call this warm, this cool morning air,” 
returned Lilian. 

“I mean the bright sunshine and everything. O, 
look!” 

A plump little indigo bunting, shining a bright 
green-blue in the sun, flew across the lane and 
dropped to the ground not far in front of them. 

“Hark!” whispered Lilian. A Maryland yellow- 
throat was singing now, “We greet you, we greet 
you, we greet /ou!” as Lilian interpreted it. 

“He does say that,” confirmed Hilary. “It’s 
funny, isn’t it? They say he says ‘wichity’, but I 
almost always hear him accent the song differently. 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 73 


The other day I heard one say, 4 We beat you, we 
beat you, Phoebe !’ ” 

‘''Let’s go over on the rocks near those birches. 
I hear a lot of wood warblers singing over there.” 

Silently the girls climbed across rocks and bushes. 
It was indeed warbler land. Hilary, who lived 
where the warblers often pass through quickly in 
the spring migration, on account of hot days, was 
especially interested. “There are a lot of redstarts,” 
said she. “I think that the ones we see near our 
cabin, and the yellow warbler there, too, are nesting 
in those bushes by us.” 

“I wish I could see the chap that’s singing that 
song,” said Betty, “Listen.” 

“Zee, zoo, zee-zee, zoo,” hummed Lilian. “The 
‘zee-zee’ is musical, a sort of whistle, but the other 
notes sound like an insect, or some low tones on 
a ‘cello’.” 

“Say, Lilian, aren’t you a scientist!” said Isabel, 
hitching along on the same rock. 

“I am. I’m getting bird songs. That ‘right here’ 
of the chewink is new to me. See him ?” 

“Sh-sh!” The girls stopped their low conversa¬ 
tion as the long, sweet notes of a white-throated 
sparrow began. Two or three others took up the 
fairy music, while the girls sat quiet to hear it. 

“The dears!” exclaimed Cathalina, as the song 
ended. 


74 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


“Of course those crows would have to caw,” 
said Isabel. “I call them the dogs of the bird world, 
always barking like watch dogs to tell that we are 
here. Once I went into a dandy woods and the 
crows made such a fuss that I didn’t see a bird.” 

“Did you ever see anything prettier than these 
blueberries ?” asked Hilary. “They look like flowers 
growing over there on the big rocks and between. 
I shall always think of grey rocks, moss, lichens and 
blueberries. They match the sky and bay, don’t 
they? The color of the little green plant is pretty, 
too. I shall never get them mixed with huckleber¬ 
ries again. These taller plants are a sort of blue¬ 
berry, too, somebody said. They are dark, almost 
black, when they are ripe.” 

“I think I’ve eaten a quart already. I don’t know 
whether to eat blueberries or look at birds,” and 
Isabel put a fresh handful into her mouth. “There 
is a dark berry called dog-berry, so be sure you 
know the difference in the dark berries before you 
eat ’em when they’re ripe. I’m not one of those 
that taste everything and get poisoned. Dogberries 
are poisonous. But these heavenly berries!” 

“Look, girls!” called Mother Nature, breaking 
the laws of silence for once, that all might see the 
immense eagle which was flying over. “See his 
white head and tail.” 

The party moved on, for the hike was to cover 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 75 


the distance to “First Trott’s” and back. In Merry- 
meeting parlance. “First Trott’s” marked a distance 
of a mile and a half to where lived a family by the 
name Trott, while “Second Trotts” was located a 
mile further out. 

Birches, arbor-vitae trees, tall or tiny, balsams, 
white pines, oaks, and other trees characteristic of 
the Maine woods lined the way. Back in the shade 
of the pine trees grew that strange ghost flower, 
the Indian pipe. Isabel counted the slender trunks 
in one clump of young birches and found fifteen. 

“I’m going to bring my camera here and take a 
picture of some of you girls sitting on that wonder¬ 
ful big rock that slopes back above this exquisite 
fern bed. These are so delicate.” 

“New growth, I guess,” said Hilary. “But look 
at those across the road now. They are more than 
half as tall as Isabel.” 

“Take a leaf of this sweet fern between your 
fingers and squeeze it. It is just as spicy as can be. 
But we’d better hurry up a little,” continued Betty. 
“The rest of them are ahead of us.” 

“Well, what is here!” exclaimed Isabel just then, 
stopping where on each side of the road there was 
a row of immense, brown ant-hills, built up high 
from the level ground. “They must be years old. 
See how the grass is growing out from the top of 
that one, and look at the big holes toward the bot- 


76 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


tom! I suppose those are the tunnels going back 
from the openings.” 

With interest the girls watched the busy inhab¬ 
itants of this curious apartment house. ‘‘Looks like 
sawdust on top,” said one. 

Along the more shady portions of the pretty, 
winding road few birds were seen. All seemed to 
be out where sunshine lit up their dining rooms. 
Occasionally a squirrel or chipmunk scolded them 
roundly, as the girls passed too near their place of 
abode. As they returned to camp, Hilary and Lilian 
lingered in the rear. “It was right here in these 
bushes,” Hilary was saying. “I did not get a good 
look at it all over, but I hope and think that it is 
a black-billed cuckoo, for I so seldom see one, that 
is, to be sure of it. Let’s creep up real softly and 
maybe we’ll see it. I think it stays around here.” 

The cuckoo proved to be a very accommodating 
bird, for when they reached the neighborhood of 
the bushes, out it flew from one near them, retreat¬ 
ing to one which was farther off, but had so much 
less foliage that the heavy bird was easily seen. 

“It is!” whispered Hilary. “It lifted its head 
and I saw every bit of its bill. And when it flew 
there was no sign of black in its tail.” 

“That will be another point for you, Hilary.” 

“But you identified it, too.” 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 77 


“Yes, but you saw it yesterday and thought it 
was the blackbilled.” 

“All right. Maybe some other girl has seen it, 
though, and reported on it first.” 

“I don’t believe so. I got the black and white 
creeping warbler first while we were all at the 
rocks, you know, and I saw the least flycatcher 
first too,—two points for me on birds so far.” 

“Somebody reported the tree swallow this morn¬ 
ing before I had a chance to, but I found its nest 
in the knot of that apple tree near the club house. 
Come on and I’ll show you. Isn’t it pathetic that 
those poor kingbirds have to watch their nest so, 
or think they have to?” 

“Where?” 

“Didn’t you notice the kingbird’s nest on the 
very end of the tree next to the klondike opposite 
us? There is a white string hanging down from 
it. You’ll only have to look that way to see it. 
I suppose they never dreamed that all this crowd 
of girls would come, when they built the nest.” 

“Most of the birds are so hard to see. The foliage 
is so thick, and then they are nesting, too, and that 
makes them shy.” 

“Been on the hike?” asked Nora, as the girls 
reached the cabin. “I couldn’t wake up enough. 
It’s inhuman to expect anybody to get up before six 
o’clock.” 


78 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


“It was fine. Better go the next time, Pat,” 
said Frances. 

Later Lilian found that her little “zee, zoo” bird 
was a black-throated green warbler, and saw some 
baby ones in the bushes near the pine grove. Hilary 
soon had quite a list of warblers that nested about 
Merrymeeting. The gulls, chiefly the Herring Gull, 
came in numbers every day to be fed. A Laughing 
Gull was seen near Bath, and a Ring-Billed Gull 
near the boys’ island. On the Wiscasset trip much 
later, a fish hawk’s nest was seen on one of the 
piles common in the river. To the great amuse¬ 
ment of the party Gne little city girl asked “How 
do the fishes get up there?” 

After the birds had been duly studied, and the 
bright colored pictures put up in the club house as 
each bird was reported, the attention of the girls 
was turned to the wild flowers, of which there were 
so many. At first five flowers brought to the nature 
teacher gave one point. Finally, when the common 
flowers had all been reported, one of the rarer flowers 
made a point for its discoverer. Some funny mis¬ 
takes were made, and no wonder, for why is not 
“pussy-foot” clover just as good a name as rab- 
bit’s-foot clover, or “scrambled eggs” as good as 
butter and eggs? And what is the difference be¬ 
tween “church steeple” and steeple bush? 

It was Cathalina who showed the members of 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 79 


the Greycliff nature club the wintergreen with its 
waxen berries and the trailing arbutus plants along 
the lane. 

“Are you sure it’s wintergreen?” inquired the 
cautious Isabel before tasting the young leaves, 
as Cathalina invited her to do. 

“Yes, it tastes just like wintergreen candy, or 
tooth paste!” 

During the season, odd and beautiful bouquets 
adorned the tables at meals. Indian pipe standing 
high in a bit of greenery; Canadian lilies, wood lilies, 
meadow sweet, steeple bush, bunch berries, milk 
wort, Indian paintbrush, buttercups or daisies, fall 
dandelions in prickly juniper, wild roses as late as 
August, or the stately cardinal flower,—all these by 
turns found their way into the vases and bowls. 


CHAPTER VIII. 

CANOE TESTS AND A CAMP FIRE. 

Eloise in her red and black bathing suit and 
scarlet cap was a striking little figure. Lithe and 
active, she selected her paddle and flew down to the 
dock to select her conoe, for the canoe tests were 
in progress. “Wish me good luck, girls,” said she 
as she pushed out her canoe from the sands and 
jumped in it. 



80 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


Out beyond the dock and floats, toward the 
back water, a blue canoe, bottom up, was beings 
steadily pushed to shore by some swimmer, whose 
bobbing head showed behind it. One girl had 
brought in her canoe, pushed its nose into the sand, 
and while drawing herself into a reclining position 
upon it declared that she was going to take a nap 
then and there. Another had gone out where the 
current was almost too strong for her and was hav¬ 
ing difficulty to manage a canoe that apparently 
wanted to go down the Kennebec and out to sea. She 
was making slight headway, while from the guarding 
rowboat came an occasional word of encourage¬ 
ment. 

“I can’t do it,” she said at last. “I could swim 
it, but I can’t take the canoe in.” The rowboat 
approached and a dripping figure climbed over its 
side. Both girl and canoe were brought to the dock. 
It was Cathalina, her face solemn with disappoint¬ 
ment. 

“Better luck next time, Cathalina,” said Betty, 
who was almost as disappointed as Cathalina, but 
would not show it. 

“I’ll wait till tomorrow before I try it again. 
Isn’t it horrid? I wish I were a regular Samson!” 

“You’ll do it all right the next time. I don’t 
believe I could have done it either if I had been 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 81 


where you were. Go out toward the back water 
tomorrow. Here comes Lil. Good work, Lilian.” 

Betty had been successful in her canoe test, and 
while waiting for the other girls, was swimming or 
playing around in shallow water. 

'‘Watch Eloise. There she is, just ready to tip 
over.” Like a scarlet tanager in black and red, 
Eloise stood poised in her boat, handing her paddle 
to her guardian of the row boat, and waiting till the 
row boat drew off. 

“There she goes!” Betty and Cathalina stood in 
the water watching, and Lilian paused in drawing in 
her boat to see Eloise perform her spectacular act, 
now on the edge of her canoe, tipping it, now going 
over and down, coming up in a jiffy and turning her 
canoe shoreward. 

“Rowing is so much harder work than 
paddling,” said Cathalina. “I'm glad that I’m learn¬ 
ing canoeing, but I wish I were more at home in 
the water.” 

“The only way is to do it a lot, I guess,” said 
Betty. “Let’s do as much paddling as we can up 
here and go in for the races at school next year.” 

“I don’t believe Mother and Father would let 
me race,” said Cathalina. 

“O, they never get up much speed at Greycliff.” 


82 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


“Anyway, I’m going to paddle all I can. Will 
you go out with me this afternoon if they let us?” 

“Yes, indeed.” 

Wet and smiling, Eloise brought in her canoe. 
“Do you think I made it, girls?” 

“Of course you made it!” cried the generous 
Cathalina. “I hope I do tomorrow if they have ’em 
again. If not, some other day. Where’s Hilary, 
by the way?” 

“She and Helen are together somewhere. They 
said they were coming down for the tests, but must 
have forgotten it. They passed theirs the other 
day, you know.” 

“O, Cathalina—Cathalina Van Buskirk!” called 
one of the councillors. The girls ran to get their 
bath robes and bathing caps, which were draped over 
the railing at the dock. 

“Miss Allen is still sick today; why can’t you 
take her French class? They can’t afford to lose 
the time.” 

“Why,—I never taught anything in my life.” 

“But you have had plenty of private teaching, 
haven’t you?” 

“Yes; shall I do it that way?” 

“Certainly. Anybody that can talk French as 
you can ought to be able to take these little girls 
through a couple of lessons. Give them some easy 
conversation and take them over the ground they 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 83 


ought to cover in the reader. If you feel like hearing 
them recite their verbs, all the better.” 

Cathalina’s discouragement over not passing the 
canoe test was gone and she hurried into her clothes* 
planning happily just what sort of a conversation 
she would conduct, delighted to be a good camper 
and help in something she knew about, if she couldn’t 
bring in that canoe! “But I’ll do it tomorrow, Hil¬ 
ary,” she told Hilary that night in recounting the 
day’s exploits, “see if I don’t!” And Cathalina did. 

That afternoon there was a hare and hounds 
chase. During rest hour some of the girls tore paper 
into pieces, to be dropped here and there for the 
trail. One of the councillors led the hares, who 
were to have a good start before the hounds, in 
charge of another councillor or two, should ta“ke 
up the chase. By the time the chase was ended there 
were few of the girls who did not know the ins and 
outs of the pine grove, the rocks, the meadows, the 
lane, and the trail along the back water. 

Of the Greycliff girls, Hilary, Lilian and Virginia 
were among the hounds, that started after a certain 
definite time had elapsed. Everybody was talking 
at once and excitement was growing. As they knew 
that the start was to be made through the pine grove, 
the line of hounds headed that way from the club 
house. 


84 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN GAMP 


“Here’s the first paper!” shouted Virgie. “Come 
on! Bow-wow!” 

Through the bushes, over the roots and rocks, 
slipping through the birches in what Hilary called 
Warblerville, they hurried. It was there that a 
dainty little redstart sat on the edge of a tiny nest 
to greet them the first day they wandered about 
Merrymeeting. 

“Mercy! Do I have to climb that rock?” said 
one of the little girls. 

“Over you go,” and with two or three helping 
hands to boost, up she went, to slide down on the 
other side. 

“Here’s a clear trail,” cried Frances, and the 
running hounds followed to the middle of a big 
meadow, only to find that the trail ended there and 
to return to the place where they had entered the 
field. 

“Hilary, you go that way, Lilian that, and I’ll 
go this way,” called Frances, “and see if we can 
find the trail more quickly.” Lilian found it and 
beckoned to the rest. At the edge of a ravine they 
paused. 

“I bet they never ran down there,” said Virgie. 
“They’d have to get right out again; let’s go around 
and pick up the trail.” But her plan was over¬ 
ruled. The whole party climbed or slid down, only 
to find that Virgie’s surmise was correct and that 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 85 


the hares had probably let one or two of their num¬ 
ber fix this blind trail, while the rest of them went 
on to drop the paper in another direction. 

Further on, in a bit of woods, the trail led them 
in a circle, where again the hounds lost time. Not 
once did they catch a glimpse of the hares and ar¬ 
rived at camp headquarters to find that they had 
been in for some time. 

“That old engine sounds good to me,” said Vir¬ 
ginia, for the water was being pumped from the 
drilled well and pails of clear, cold water carried 
down to the dining-room for supper. 

Hilary and Lilian were repairing damages and 
washing dusty faces and hands when Eloise, who 
had been a hare, came to borrow Betty’s Indian 
blanket. “I’ll take good care of it, Betty,” she 
said. “How do I look in it?”—draping it around 
her shoulders. 

“What is up?” asked Hilary. 

“Our klondike gives the camp fire tonight and 
we are going to be Indians. Don’t miss it. Helen’s 
father sent boxes of the most delicious marsh¬ 
mallows you ever ate. Wasn’t it nice of him?” 

“Don’t you want my steamer rug?” inquired 
Cathalina. 

“I think not. If anybody needs one I’ll send her 
over; thank you, Cathie. May has a duck of a 


86 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


blanket, just a cotton one, such as they make bath 
robes of, and it is so gay and pretty.” 

“I suppose the camp fire will be on Marshmallow 
Point ?” 

“Yes; a real ‘Injun’ camp fire, where the Indians 
used to have them.” 

As the girls came down to the point upon the ring¬ 
ing of the bell after supper, a tall, stolid “Indian” 
met them and waved them to the lower rocks. Be¬ 
hind other rocks Indian head-dresses showed. Pres¬ 
ently there appeared a group of dignified Indians, 
much painted, wearing feathers of a remarkable 
variety and draped in blankets or what made one 
think of that civilized garment known as the bath 
robe. While they posed, one of the girls from Pine 
Lodge read an account of the early days upon the 
Kennebec and Merrymeeting Bay when the point 
was a trading resort and place of meeting for the 
Indians. 

“From the lodges along the Kennebec and from 
the camp fires of the Androscoggin they have come 
to make plans for peace upon Merrymeeting Bay. 
A captive maid is to be returned to the Kennebec 
lover from whom she was stolen and the wicked 
kidnapper, of another tribe, is to be sentenced to 
exile. Behold the council fire!” 

Softly from behind the rocks, in the beaded In¬ 
dian moccasins, other figures joined the first group 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 87 


and with them marched in silent procession before 
the spectators. Then they circled round the camp 
fire, which was then lit by the chieftain. 

After this interesting part of the ceremony had 
been watched by the audience (though not in silence, 
for the chief had some difficulty in getting his fire 
to burn), the other Indians lit their torches (flash¬ 
lights) from the camp fire and started a weird dance 
upon the rocks to the sound of an Indian drum 
beating in hollow tones. Presently the dance 
stopped and the Indians sat down in a circle around 
the chief. 

“Bring forth the captive!” called the chief in a 
sepulchral voice. Then came an Indian maid, well 
hung with beads, her hands bound, her head bowed, 
as she walked between two Indian guards. While 
she knelt before the chief, Lilian’s voice came from 
the rocks in “From the Land of the Sky-Blue 
Water”. Like her prototype in the song, the “cap¬ 
tive maid was mute”, though she told the girls after¬ 
ward that she longed to break her bonds, for a bug 
was crawling up her arm and a mosquito had just 
bitten her nose. 

The girls played well their short Indian drama. 
The bonds of the captive maid were loosened and 
she was restored to the arms of her Indian lover, 
who glared dramatically at his rival, the captive 


88 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


villain who was sentenced to exile and slunk away 
to his canoe, as pointed out by the old chief: 

Far from the smiling Kennebec, 

Far from thy lodge and tribe, 

I bid thee go! Thy name shall be 
A name for jeer and gibe. 

The play over at this point, the attractive Indians 
now brought out the boxes of marshmallows and 
passed them around to the assembled company who 
had previously provided themselves with sticks. 
Afterward came the usual singing of the dear Mer¬ 
rymeeting songs and other favorites; and while 
Lilian’s voice, never sweeter, floated softly in ‘‘By 
the Waters of Minnetonka,” the waters of the Ken¬ 
nebec rippled past, and the same old moon which 
had looked upon the real Indians not so many years 
ago, shone down on the blithe Merrymeeting 
campers. 


CHAPTER IX. 

CHURCH AND A SUNDAY MOON. 

It was a glorious Sabbath morning. The waters 
rippled and sparkled as the tide came hurrying in 
early; but there was no bell for dip on Sunday 
morning and breakfast was put at a later hour. 



THE GREYCL1FF GIRLS IN CAMP 89 


The girls had been asked to come to breakfast pre¬ 
pared to leave on the launches for church. 

“Where do we go to church, Frances?” Hilary 
asked. 

“Sometimes to one of the little churches up the 
river, but often to Bath, for there we can choose 
churches of different denominations, go to our own 
or visit others.” 

Two boat loads started. Aeolus and Truant 
chugged their way down stream, through the Burnt 
Jackets and past Boothbay Camp, where a few boys 
waved and cheered; past Brushwood Lodge, quiet 
and lovely in its rocks and greenery; past happily 
sailing gulls and shores of solid rock and evergreens; 
past the little hamlet of West Woolwich, on down 
the river to the now familiar little town of Bath. 

Hilary, Lilian and Cathalina looked closely at the 
island as they passed Boothbay Camp, to see if 
there were any signs of Campbell. 

“I think that the church folks have already left, 
since there seemed to be so few boys around,” said 
Cathalina in a low tone to Hilary. “The question 
is, will he go to your church, hoping to see you, or 
to his own church, and where will you go?” 

Hilary colored a little and replied, “I should love 
to see Campbell, but I think that I shall go with you 
girls today, as I should plan to do in any case. 


90 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


Probably he can’t choose, but will have to take some 
group of boys.” 

“That is so,” replied Cathalina, who was deeply 
concerned in her cousin Campbell’s interest in Hil¬ 
ary ever since he had first met her on her visit to 
Cathalina. And now that Philip had been impressed 
with Lilian, Cathalina felt that she was living in an 
atmosphere of the highest romance. Confidences 
from all quarters were hers. Lilian had looked as 
conscious as Hilary while passing the island, for 
Philip might come at any time. 

Campbell Stuart, meanwhile, trusted to no chance 
meeting. So far his responsibilities and labors in the 
early days of camp had prevented him from calling 
at Merrymeeting to see his cousin and her friends. 
But here he was at the dock as the Aeolus floated 
in, his blue eyes lit up with pleasure and his lips 
parted in smiles, as he lifted his hat to Hilary, 
Cathalina, and the boat load in general. And now 
he was helping the girls off and walked between Hil¬ 
ary and Cathalina, while Lilian and Betty fell in 
behind. 

“How’d you get off, Campbell?” asked Catha¬ 
lina. 

“I just told the “boss” that I had a cousin and 
some friends at Merrymeeting whom I had not 
yet had a chance to see, and asked if I might not 
wait to walk with you all to church. Having con- 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 91 


fidence in me, he said I might. So here we are/' 
he concluded, looking down at Hilary’s demure 
countenance. 

The walk was all too short for all that there was 
to say, and at the church Campbell joined the mas¬ 
culine crew from Boothbay, which sat quietly un¬ 
der the observing eyes of the different councillors. 
After the service, however, the girls saw him for a 
few moments. 

“I’m going to paddle up some time soon, and 
shall bring Phil up, of course, as soon as he finds 
he can come. If I don’t come, you’ll know it’s be¬ 
cause I can’t help it, and I’ll be there with bells on 
at the annual picnic. You be sure, girls, to come to 
our picnic at Boothbay, won’t you?” Though Camp¬ 
bell addressed all, he looked at Hilary, who replied, 
“Indeed we wouldn’t miss it for the world!” and 
Cathalina added, “So say we all!” 

“How much of that sermon did you hear, Hil¬ 
ary?” asked Cathalina teasingly, as they climbed 
into the boat for the ride back to camp. 

“Lots of it,” said Hilary. “Don’t think you can 
tease me so much, Miss Cathalina Van Buskirk. It 
was a good sermon, too, and made me think of 
Father in his pulpit preaching away and looking like 
a saint, as he is,—and Mother sitting in the pew 
so sweet and nice, and the boys, and little Mary. 
But I wasn’t homesick, some way, just happy.” 


92 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


“You're a dear,” said Cathalina affectionately. 
“You are our pretty, sweet old Hilary so you are, 
and shan't be teased. No wonder Campbell,—well, 
here I go again! Excuse me." 

“You are quite forgiven, Cathie. I don't mind, 
only not much before the other girls, please." 

“Honestly, Hilary, and no nonsense, hasn’t Camp¬ 
bell grown up in these two years?" 

“Yes, he and Phil are both so different, I mean 
in the way of being young men and not just boys. 
Just think, it will be two years next Christmas since 
I was at your house! What fun we had! It was 
the nicest visit I ever had anywhere." 

“We must have more of them. It isn't my fault 
that we haven’t already." 

“O, I know, Cathalina, but I have not been able 
to manage it. You have invited me often enough." 

“I hope to take Lilian home with me from here." 

“That will be lovely. Have you asked her yet?" 

“Yes, and she has written home about it. Phil 
wants to have a fraternity brother, and with the 
cousins, we shall have quite a party. If you only 
could come!—even for just over the week end 
would be something. School begins a little later than 
usual this year." 

“That will give a little over two weeks at home,— 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 93 


unless we left camp a little earlier. But we couldn’t 
miss the big banquet and all the fun.” 

“My, no!” 

“Mother wrote that she wanted to see the camp, 
and I believe that we can arrange it. Phil can do 
the driving, so we won’t need the chauffeur, unless 
Mother wants to have him. She can fix it all up as 
usual. Anyway there is plenty of room for us all. 
It will be a pretty trip, Hilary, and we’d stop a 
day or two in Boston and see Cambridge and Lex¬ 
ington and Concord, you know.” 

“O, wonderful! I have been thinking that I’d 
write to ask Father if I might not take that trip 
home with the camp folks. June can go back with 
the crowd.” 

“Don’t do it; go back with us instead. You 
haven’t been in New York in the summer. And if 
possible, I want Betty to go, too. Isn’t it funny 
and nice how plans grow? I thought of Lilian 
first on account of Phil, then you on account of 
Campbell, and of all of you on my own account.” 

“This is the most wonderful world anyway. I 
never dreamed of having such good times before I 
went to Greycliff.” 

As Isabel and Virginia Hope sat at the same table 
this week with Hilary, she had to answer their ques¬ 
tions as they all ate chickens and dressing for their 
Sunday dinner. 


94 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


“Who was that perfectly wonderful looking coun¬ 
cillor that was with you girls this morning?” asked 
Isabel. 

Hilary gave the same reply that she had already 
given several times before dinner: “That is Cath- 
alina’s cousin, Campbell Stuart.” 

“Had you ever met him before?” 

“Yes, when I visited Cathalina, almost two years 
ago. I met a number of her cousins and know them 
very well.” This in an effort to forestall any com¬ 
ments about possible attentions to her on Camp¬ 
bell^ part. 

“He looks a little like Cathalina. Isn’t he tall and 
skinny, though?” 

“I should say that Campbell is very well built 
for a young man.” 

“He certainly is. Virgie, do you suppose that 
we’ll ever have any one as nice to take us around? 
If he comes up to see you girls, you’ll introduce 
him to us, won’t you?” 

“I most certainly will,” laughed Hilary. “I 
think that Cathalina will be very proud of both her 
brother and her cousin and will want all her friends 
to meet them.” 

“Hm-m,” said Isabel. “Smart old Hilary. Item 
for the 'Moon’. Mr. Campbell Stuart, councillor at 
Boothbay Camp and cousin of Cathalina Van Bus- 
kirk, met Cathalina at the dock this morning and 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 95 


walked to church with her and her friends. Nobody 
but Cathalina was glad to see him/ ” 

“Seems to me,” replied Hilary with a twinkle, 
“that a lot of interest is developing right here about 
Mr. Stuart. I’ll have to tell him.” 

“If you do!” threatened Isabel. “By the way, 
why is the camp paper called the Moon?” 

“Because it comes out at night.” 

“Honest?” 

“Yes, really. Frances said so.” 

“Well how does it happen that you, a preacher s 
daughter, are an editor on a Sunday paper?” 

“In the first place, it is not a 'Sunday paper’, ex¬ 
cept that it is read on Sunday evening; then it 
isn’t work, just fun, and gives us something to do. 
We were nearly upset last night by one of the con¬ 
tributions that was handed in just before bedtime. 
Patty had to call us down twice for giggling after 
we were in bed. It was the funniest thing!” 

“I think that Frances will make a good editor, 
assistant editor, I mean. She knows everything 
about camp, and with your bunch right at hand to 
write poetry and all kinds of things, her part in the 
paper ought to go. I’m a reporter myself!” 

“Remember that all your news will be censored, 
particularly that item about Campbell.” 

After dinner the girls strolled to their cabins for 
rest hour. 


96 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


“Wake me up, Hilary,” said Lilian, “in time to 
write my letter home and finish my verses for the 
Moon. Chicken and dressing and gravy and blue¬ 
berry pie and things are too much for me, and I 
must have a nap.” 

“All right. I’m not sleepy. I’m going to read, 
for I have my letter home written, except adding a 
little about church. We have enough for the Moon 
already in, and all there is left to do is to pin any 
more contributions on the pages of the magazine 
where they belong. Frances is using an old Satur¬ 
day Evening Post and divided it off into the differ¬ 
ent departments yesterday, leaving vacant pages for 
later contributions.” 

“I just wrote home yesterday, but I suppose I’ll 
have to write to somebody as a ticket of admission 
to supper. I might write to Phil,” she added, mis¬ 
chievously glancing at Lilian, “and tell him that 
Lilian has succumbed to chicken and pie.” 

Lilian opened a sleepy eye. “Don’t, Cathalina. 
It’s so delicious to feel sleepy and if you start fun 
going I’ll get waked up. There comes our coun¬ 
cillor. Now you will have to be quiet, at least dur¬ 
ing rest hour.” 

“Not a soul shall disturb your slumbers,” de¬ 
clared Hilary, and Lilian tucked one little hand 
under her cheek, turned over on her cot, and was 
asleep in a jiffy. 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 97 


When the bell rang that evening after supper at 
about half past seven, it summoned the camp family 
to the Sunday evening gathering at the club house. 
Little girls, big girls and many of the councillors 
sat upon the floor to listen to the reading of the 
weekly chronicle of camp life, known as the Moon. 
Chairs around the wall or at one end held the rest 
of the family, and the doctor, swimming instructor, 
and other gentlemen whose oversight and assistance 
were quite necessary to camp comfort and success, 
usually dropped in to hear the paper read. 

There was little that this literary journal would 
not attempt. Stories, short or continued, articles, 
editorials, society news, personals, poetry and even 
an amusing department of questions and answers 
conducted by one “Mrs. O’Brien”. Question and an¬ 
swer were usually written by the same contributor 
or editor, but that, it is said, is sometimes done in 
other periodicals. There were some interesting edi¬ 
torials, one expressing welcome to all the campers 
and particularly to all the new girls and councillors. 
Another defined a “good sport” and gave some of 
the wholesome camp ideas on helpfulness, unself¬ 
ishness, and camp spirit. Reports were given on 
athletics, with the names of the team captains, and 
the general program of activities was outlined. 

Klondike life and conversation were the subject 
of a few clever sketches. In verse appeared the 


98 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


story of the caterpillars which had invaded cabins, 
and even cots—whether alone or assisted is uncer¬ 
tain—in the early days of camp. Dire pictures were 
drawn of fuzzy travelers that descended from ceil¬ 
ings and climbed the bridges of noses. Poetic ex¬ 
aggeration also made much of attacks from a mos¬ 
quito army, under captains, majors, and lieutenants 
who were undaunted by the taste of insectolatum, 
citronella, or pennyroyal. 

Anything in praise af camp was welcome to the 
loyal girls, as well as the bright little personals which 
brought them into kindly or joking notice. 

From the junior cabin came a short story by 
June, which was entitled “Lost or Kidnapped?—A 
True Story.” 

“This is the story of a junior at Merrymeeting 
Camp and her adventure. She was a very pretty 
little girl. Everybody liked her, but she had one 
fault which shall be seen. 

“One day the girls went on a hike to First Trott’s. 
They had a very good time. They ate blueberries, 
picked flowers in the woods and brought home plenty 
of Indian pipe for table bouquets. They did not 
touch them for fear they would turn black, as they 
have a way of doing. 

“All the girls were laughing and talking and hav¬ 
ing great fun on the way home. When the supper 
bell rang, everybody went to the dining hall as usual. 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 99 


But when the girls at Mother Nature’s table sat 
down, Dot was not there. Mother Nature told the 
head councillor and her face turned white, because 
Dot is not very old and something might have hap¬ 
pened to her. 

“So they slipped around and asked the juniors 
and some of the other girls where they had seen 
Dot last. Jo remembered seeing her when they were 
about half way home, but nobody knew where she 
was. It seemed very serious. Somebody started 
out at once on the little road. Somebody else went 
to the pine grove, and several girls began to look 
all over camp for her. Jo happened to think of 
looking in the cabin. And there was Dot, reading 
a book! She hadn’t even heard the supper bell! 

“Her carelessness had made a great deal of 
trouble for everybody, but nobody had gotten so far 
away that they were not easily called back. And 
everybody was so glad that it had turned out all 
right that Dot did not even get a scolding.” 

Lilian had had some trouble with her verses. She 
was undecided whether to have a fair, round, full 
or high moon, and spent some time in getting a 
rhyme for “reflection”. Then she hit upon “direc¬ 
tion”, and in thinking of the somewhat devious way 
which the Kennebec followed “indirection” oc¬ 
curred to her. This at once finished her last lines, 


100 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


and as the subject was appropriate to an evening 
edition, they were used to close the “Moon”. 

Evening in Maine. 

A song sparrow drops to its nest in the bush; 

A swallow in circles is winging; 

It is evening in Maine, and where blueberries grow 
I hear a sweet yellow-throat singing. 

We greet you, we greet you!” he says to the sky, 
Where the rose and the lavender mingle; 

We greet you, we greet you!” he calls, as the birds 
Flit high or flit low in the dingle. 

“Now where is that nest, little yellow-throat? Say!” 

I ask as I listen and wonder; 

“O, witchery, witchery,” comes the reply, 

“I’m hid in the bushes or under.” 

The shadows grow long on the river and bay, 

And darkly the island’s reflection 
Appears in the water that shimmers and flows 
Toward the sea in strange indirection. 

But in nest or in cabin or “Little Content”, 
Enfolded in safety they’re sleeping, 

While the breezes blow cool on the broad Kennebec 
And the night watch a high moon is keeping. 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 101 


The evening ended with the singing of the old 
hymns or of more modern sacred songs. One coun¬ 
cillor played the accompaniments; another led the 
singing and announced the selections. Favorite 
hymns were called for. The girls could remain 
or retire to their cabins, but many stayed and en¬ 
joyed this fitting close to the Sabbath. 


CHAPTER X. 
a “stunt night”. 

“On the ringing of the bell,” came the announce¬ 
ment at supper, “each klondike must present a 
‘stunt’ at the club house. Twenty minutes now to 
get up the performance. See who will have the 
best.” The smiling face of the head councillor indi¬ 
cated her confidence in her girls. She knew that 
they had plenty of interesting ideas in their heads 
and expected a good entertainment. 

“Mercy,” said Virgie, “I couldn’t think up any¬ 
thing in twenty minutes, let alone get it ready!” 

“O, yes we can,” said Isabel, “come on. Some 
of the old girls will know what they do here.” 

There was hurrying and scurrying to klondikes 
and much laughter with the thinking and planning. 



102 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


“Suppose we think up the same thing some other 
klondike does,” suggested Marion, as she walked 
from supper with Frances. “O, we never do; don't 
worry," Frances replied. 

Patty West had been transferred to Squirrels* 
Inn in some shifting of councillors, and to her the 
girls of that klondike rushed. Patty was already 
racking her brains, she asserted, but so far nothing 
had occurred to her. 

“I tell you what I have, Miss Patty," said Catha- 
lina, “something that Ann Maria said the girls at 
her school acted out one time and Mother was so 
amused, for she and her cousins used to do it,—I 
think it came out in the St. Nicholas or something 
when she was a girl, or maybe she found it in the old 
magazines at home. Anyway it is just an old poem 
called “The Ballad of Mary Jane”. Of course, we 
can’t learn it, but one of us can read it and the 
rest can take the parts and act it out, in pantomime. 

A brief rehearsal with a quick assembling of cos¬ 
tumes and other necessary articles was all that was 
possible. Miss West was to do the reading, while 
Cathalina, who was familiar with the poem, was 
to be stage director, send on the actors at the prop¬ 
er time, cause the pasteboard sun to rise, and do 
the various duties connected with her position. 
Other klondikes were in the same state of interest¬ 
ing hurry. Fortunately the ringing of the bell was 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 103 

delayed a little, but by twenty minutes of eight 
rows of big and little girls, the little ones in front, 
sat facing the “stage” of the club house. This was 
the little room or den at one end of the assembly 
room. Its walls extended only a short way, to in¬ 
dicate division of a sort, and a curtain could be 
drawn across if desired. Curtains were usually 
made from two sheets or two big blankets hastily 
hemmed to permit a rope to be drawn through, the 
rope then fastened to hooks or nails. 

The audience was composed of those who did not 
take part in the actual performance presented by 
their group, or who would not be called on for some 
time. Clapping of hands indicated some impatience. 

“Lights out!” called some one, and the switch 
for the main room was turned off. As the lights 
in the little room had not been turned on, all was 
in total darkness. Flashlights began to be turned 
on and brought a protest from the stage. 

“Turn off your flashes! Don’t you know we 
hadn’t time to put up a curtain, and have to fix 
the stage? Please, girls.” These were the little 
folks from Laugh-a-lot and Little Content whose 
“stunt” came first. 

Presently the stage lights came on disclosing a 
small child washing dishes, the dishpan on a chair, 
while June, dressed in a long skirt, with a scarf 


104 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


pinned around her shoulders and her hair done up 
high, was preparing a basket. 

“Now, little Red Riding-Hood, get your cloak 
and let me put it on for you. Here, my child, are 
some nice fruit and a fresh blueberry pie for your 
grandmother. Go straight there and don’t stop to 
talk to any one on the way!” June’s finger was 
raised impressively. 

“All right, Mother,” replied Red Riding-Hood 
in her most sugary tones, while the audience 
laughed. The mother fastened the red cape and 
hood that made somebody’s little rain coat, kissed 
her little girl, waved her hand to her as Red Riding- 
Hood set out, and followed her to the door where 
she stood, still waving. Then she returned to her 
rocking chair, picked up some knitting, and settled 
back with a great air of responsibility. Promptly 
the lights went out again and a few adjustments 
were made for the next scene. 

When the lights went on the signs of housekeep¬ 
ing had been removed. A placard placed upon the 
table announced “The Woods”. Little Red Riding- 
Hood came strolling in, swinging her basket and 
looking at the birds. “O, aren’t you pretty? I 
guess you’re a song sparrow. O, what’s that?” 

From the right of the stage came suddenly a 
terrible looking animal whose tawny coat looked 
much like one of the girls’ ponchos. 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 105 


“Gr-rr-rr! Where are you going, little girl? 
Don’t be afraid, I won’t hurt you.” 

“O, I’m just going to take some fruit to my 
grandmother.” 

“Where does your grandmother live?” 

“Just in a nice little house on the edge of the 
wood.” 

The rest of the story proceeded in due order, the 
children making up the lines as they went along, all 
of them, of course, being perfectly familiar with 
the story. The wolf duly found the grandmother in 
bed and ate her up with much scuffling and growl¬ 
ing, putting on her cap and getting into her bed, a 
pallet on the floor. How innocently did little Red 
Riding-Hood ask, “What makes your teeth so long 
and sharp, Grandmother ?” And how fiercely did the 
wolf reply, “All the better to-eat-you-all-up-with!” 
The scene and drama ended with the timely coming 
of the woodcutters and the demise of the snarling 
wolf. 

Loud applause greeted the little folks who had 
thoroughly enjoyed playing the parts and were 
pleased that the girls liked their efforts. Hilary 
watching June, whispered to Lilian that she felt 
like hugging the child. “She looks and acts so 
like Mother!” 

Squirrels’ Inn then put on The Ballad of Mary 
Jane in pantomime. Hilary as Mary Jane looked 


106 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


the prim school teacher in long dress, stiff shirt 
waist, high collar. Her hair was in a tight knot. 
She entered carrying a bag of school books, read¬ 
ing a small volume and passed and repassed at the 
front of the stage to show how “To teach the village 
school she walked each morning down the lane,” 
this maid who “could manufacture griddle-cakes and 
jest in ancient Greek.” 

Frances Anderson was the “stalwart Benjamin”, 
who leaned on his hoe with open mouth and saw 
“the beauteous maiden pass at breaking of the 
dawn”. Little did he look like the future pirate who 
was to burst in and rescue Mary Jane, from her 
cruel father (Nora) with the “fatal knife”, and his 
rival, Lord Mortimer (Betty). Lilian, attired in 
the same poncho in which the wolf had appeared, 
and wearing paper horns, represented the cow from 
which Mary Jane dramatically rescued Benjamin 
by means of her umbrella. 

A fashion show came next, requiring little stage 
setting but much dressing. This was given by one 
of the senior klondikes and was very pretty. Mrs. 
Astorbilt was first announced and entered in even¬ 
ing gown. She was followed by the sport girl, 
the business girl, and others for whom costumes 
could be prepared upon short notice, the Merry- 
meeting girl closing the parade, and wearing the 
full costume, with headband, armband, and a dia- 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 107 


mond upon her sweater. She carried a big volley 
ball under her arm and held up to view the Merry- 
meeting trophy cup. All the girls had looked so 
pretty that each had received hearty applause; but 
the Merrymeeting girl appealed to camp loyalty and 
was cheered vociferously with “rah, rah, Merry- 
meeting!” 

An alphabetical romance was given by another 
cabin. In this the lines were of the alphabet alone, 
repeated with varying expression, occasional well 
known abbreviations, as q. e. d., i. e., or U. S. A., 
included. 

The last stunt was called “Five Minutes in Laugh- 
a-lot.” Great curiosity was evident among the audi¬ 
ence as in the darkness they could dimly see a figure 
arranged on the table and covered with something 
white. “Elaine?” “Operating room?” were sug¬ 
gested, but the stage director ordered silence and 
the lights were not turned on. 

Dim figures stole in with flashlights. “Bz-zz-zz! 
Bz-zz-zz! Bz-zz-zz!” they sang, moving arms for 
wings and tiptoeing an insect dance around the 
table. It was now evident that this was a cot in 
Laugh-a-lot, the sleeper covered with mosquito net¬ 
ting which was merely a bit of suggestive stage 
property, having no foundation in fact. The mos¬ 
quitos hovered around and now and then one would 
make a dive in her direction. Then hands would 


108 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


wave widly and the netting fail of its purpose. All 
this because little Dorothy Freneau's plump cheeks 
had exhibited several mosquito bites for a day or 
two. 

Presently the mosquitos joined hands, danced 
to the front and sang softly a mosquito song, writ¬ 
ten by the councillor under pressure in about five 
minutes. At its close they went out still buzzing, 
while some one from behind the table raised a large 
flashlight to indicate the coming of the sun. This 
was the farewell song: 

,We are hungry old mosquitos 
Looking for a bite; 

Dotty's cheeks are fat and rosy, 

And they suit us quite. 

Bz, bz, bz, bz. And they suit us quite. 

But when daylight comes upon us, 

Off we go in haste, 

For they kill poor old mosquitos. 

Make 'em into paste! 

Bz, bz, bz, bz, make 'em into paste! 

We are hungry old mosquitos, etc. 

(Last stanza repeated.) 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 109 


CHAPTER XI. 

THE FIRST CANOE TRIP. 

“We want six more for the war canoe/ ’ shouted 
the swimming teacher from the stern of that long, 
graceful, dark blue vessel. 

“Come on, Miss West.” 

“Throw me a life preserver to sit on,—please— 
we’re going three in this canoe/’ 

“You and I, Frances/’ said Marion. 

“No, you and /, Marion,” firmly insisted another 
girl, both Frances and Marion yielding to avoid con¬ 
troversy. 

“Four more for the war canoe,” from the mega¬ 
phone again. 

“All right, Betty,” said Hilary, “you and Catha- 
lina go on in the war canoe,—they need more and 
it will be easier for you, I believe. Lil and I will 
take this one by ourselves. Do you want to paddle 
bow or stern, Lil?” 

“I don’t care, Hilary.” 

“You’re not quite so husky as I am, and stem 
will be hard for you if you aren’t used to it. I 
guess you’d better paddle bow.” 


110 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


“Not for that reason, Hilary. Why should you 
take the hardest place ?” 

A good-natured squabble followed, in which Hil¬ 
ary won, settled Lilian in the bow and pushed the 
canoe out from the sands, jumping in at the stern. 
“I've got that dandy stroke that Mr. Clark showed 
me. It keeps the canoe going straight forward and 
you rest your paddle just a second on the edge, so 
it's easier.” As Hilary spoke she gave the shore 
a final push with her paddle, and sent the canoe 
gliding smoothly into the deeper water. 

“O, isn’t this fun? I just adore canoeing!” 

“Adoration, exclamation, consummation,” mur¬ 
mured Lilian. 

“Hesitation, coronation,—there are about a hun¬ 
dred of ’em if you are wanting a rhyme.” 

One by one the pretty canoes were selected and 
launched. At first there was apparent confusion 
as the girls flitted hither and thither, choosing pad¬ 
dles and partners under the general oversight of the 
athletic director and swimming teacher, but at last 
the fleet was ready to depart. 

The occasion was a picnic at Swan’s Island, a 
large island in Merrymeeting Bay. As this was the 
first real canoe trip of any length, only the good 
paddlers and swimmers were permitted to take out 
the canoes. The rest went in the Aeolus and Tru¬ 
ant, while the Midget with a few passengers carried 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 111 


the lunch. Up to this time there had been instruc¬ 
tion, and paddling within certain limits. 

Aeolus and Truant let the way. The war canoe 
followed, with even strokes of the paddles, a great- 
improvement over the first “ragtime” efforts. Then 
the other canoes, by ones and twos, swept out from 
shore to round the point into Merrymeeting Bay. 

“Look out, Hilary, don’t go out too far. The 
current is awfully strong out there. Look at 
Eloise and Helen. My! Are they going to make 
it? They may have an upset if they are carried 
down to those rocks.” 

Eloise, Evelyn and Helen had gone out too far 
from the Merrymeeting banks and were struggling 
against both current and tide, which was going out. 
But they paddled away, while the Midget was watch¬ 
ing to see if they needed help, and had just started 
toward the girls when they drew out of the stronger 
current and came up to the other boats. 

“Why did we start so late and against the tide?” 
asked Lilian. 

“Didn’t you hear about the canoes ? The men had 
to go after them this morning. The tide came up 
so high last night and the girls had not drawn them 
up high enough. Usually somebody goes down to 
see if everything is all right, but of course on the 
night of an unusually high tide it would be forgot- 


112 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 

ten, by the ‘irony of fate'. Four canoes were miss¬ 
ing.” 

“Did they find them?” 

“Yes; some of the Boothbay folks got them and 
took them in there.” 

“Look at our flotilla, Hilary. The English fleet 
isn’t in it with us!” 

“It is lovely, isn’t it? I just love these blue 
canoes. But ‘bucking the tide’ is no joke. This is 
hard work. However, think of the howl that would 
have gone up from one and all of us if we had had 
to give up to the trip 1” 

“Don’t you wish we had Campbell along?” 

“I do indeed, and for no sentimental reason either. 
Miss Lilian.” 

On they paddled. Soon the launches were far in 
advance. The distance to the island seemed to in¬ 
crease. Eloise, Helen and Evelyn had caught up 
with Hilary and Lilian and shouted across occa¬ 
sionally. 

“Look at Jenkie with Mr. Clark. Isn’t she 
lucky? See the way he paddles, and look at the 
way she just dips her oars. Listen, she’s calling.” 

“Come on, girls; this isn’t hard.” 

“O, no, Jenkie, not with Mistah Clahk to do the 
wuhk!” replied Evelyn. 

For the first long pull it promised to be a hard 
one. But after the launches had reached the island 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 113 

and delivered passangers and cargo, the Truant re¬ 
turned to pick up girls that were too tired and tow 
their canoes to port. 

The picnic went on as picnics do, but not all pic¬ 
nickers breathe the exhilarating air furnished by 
the Maine breezes. The girls were soon quite 
rested, though arms and shoulders might ache a 
little. Bathing suits and towels had been brought 
along for a good swim. The lunch was pronounced 
wonderful and good appetites made quick work of 
disposing of it. “Seconds” and “Thirds” were per¬ 
mitted for sandwiches and fruit. Some of the girls 
had brought books or magazines. Others had fancy 
work. Some looked for new birds or new flowers to 
add to their number of points. As all the common 
flowers had been brought in, each new flower 
counted a point. All the girls had helped gather 
wood for the fire. Ah, how much better bacon 
tastes cooked outdoors! Besides the fun, the con¬ 
sciousness of being able to paddle one’s own canoe, 
both literally and figuratively, was the chief result 
of this picnic, and every trip in this beautiful coun¬ 
try made the girls love it more. 

The paddle home was almost as hard as that to 
the island, for a wind came up, blew in their faces, 
and made the bay choppy. Tide again was against 
them. In the waves made by the wind and those 
from passing steamers all the skill of the paddlers 


114 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


was called into requisition. But the presence of the 
launches gave confidence to any of the girls who 
needed it, and the canoes rode the little white-capped 
waves most prettily. 

“Send for Edna, Cathalina, to rub my back,” ex¬ 
claimed Hilary stretched at length on her cot. 
“Bring on your Sloan’s liniment, Absorbine Junior 
and St. Jacob’s oil! Look out, Betty!”—as Betty 
plumped herself down by Hilary and began to rub 
a shoulder. “Deal gently, Elizabeth; how are your 
own arms?” 

“There were so many to paddle in the war canoe; 
we hardly got tired a bit. But I’m just as hungry as 
if I hadn’t eaten three sandwiches and other things 
in proportion at the island.” 

“So’m I. Dot has a birthday tonight, so we’ll 
have ice cream and cake. Maybe you will be asked 
to the birthday table, Hilary.” 

“No, I don’t think so, too many little folks that 
Dot will want.” 

“But she is so crazy about June.” 

“True; but I’m not June. However, we’ll all have 
cake, even if it is not birthday cake.” 

“The supper bell; O, joyful sound! Are the rest 
of you lame old ladies going to manage to get down 
to the dining-room on time?” 

Hilary rose with exaggerated stiffness. “I’m go¬ 
ing to apply for a position as special guide to take 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 115 


ventursome tourists through the St. Lawrence rapids 
in a canoe." 

The girls from Squirrels' Inn were a little late in 
reaching the dining-room, though others were still 
gathering and the bell for order before grace had 
not yet rung. Dotty came dancing from the birth¬ 
day table to show them her birthday bouquet. 

“Isn't it lovely ? The camp mother made it. See ? 
Every little flower is made of a dee-lish-shus piece 
of candy in the center, with all colors of paper for 
petals, and this lacy white paper to hold it all, 
twisted tinfoil and all! I wish I could have had 
you big girls at my table too." 

“Thank you, Dotty," said Hilary, “it is just as 
it should be." 

The birthday table was especially decorated, with 
fresh bouquets and extra goodies which had been 
sent to Dorothy. Packages were piled at Dorothy's 
place; happy faces surrounded the table. But the 
supreme moment was when the tables were cleared 
for the last course and Dot went over to the kitchen 
for her birthday cake. The girls watched as the 
candles were lit for her and the cake put into her 
hands. Slowly and carefully she walked, watching 
lest her green candles blow out, while the girls sang: 

“Happy birthday to you. 

Happy birthday to you! 


116 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


Happy birthday, dear Dorothy, 

Happy birthday to you!” 

“Dorothy rah! Dorothy rah! Rah-rah, Dor¬ 
othy !” 

“Did you notice her name on the frosting?— 
Dorothy, in cinnamon drops.” 

“Yes, Isabel, I certainly did,” said Virgie. “I 
never had a birthday celebration in my life. I wish 
my birthday came in camp time.” 

“When does it come?” 

“September first! Not even in school time!” 

“My, what a pity. You could almost have one.” 

“I've half a mind to change it, put it in August 
some time. Why not?” asked Virgie laughing. 

“There was a girl that did that once,” said Fran¬ 
ces. “She went clear through with it, then some¬ 
body told.” 

“What did they do to her?” 

“Nothing. They were too kind.” 

“I suppose she wanted it so awfully. But mercy, 
I’m having too many kinds of good times that I 
never dreamed of having a year ago not to be able 
to stand not having a birthday cake.” 

“We’ll just have a celebration at school for you. 
Our first feast shall be in your honor.” 

“I thank you!” and Virgie bowed formally. 
“Patty said that we have four birthdays on the 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 117 


same day next week with four separate birthday 
cakes. Maybe we’ll get a taste of one yet, Isabel.” 


CHAPTER XII. 

THE JUNIORS. 

June, of the Juniors, was having, in her own 
words, the “greatest fun of her lifetime.” Never 
had she lived with so many other little girls. Laugh- 
a-lot had overflowed into “Little Content”, a tent 
next to the shingled cabin, and “Hillside Inn”, lo¬ 
cated where the name indicates. The latter tent 
had its name conspicuously posted on a board, 
though the sign artist found that there was not 
enough room for the last “N” and put up the sign 
without it. 

The youngest of the Juniors were two eight-year- 
olds, Dorothy Freneau and Josephine Rathmell. 
Dorothy was short and chubby, with appealing blue 
eyes and engaging ways. Josephine was taller, thin, 
with olive complexion and short, fluffy, dark hair. 
Despite the difference in size and complexion these 
little girls were called the Twins, because of their 
years, their birthdays only a week or so apart. 
“Dot” and “Jo” were great favorites in camp, loved 



118 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


but not spoiled, for neither was babyish nor selfish 
and in all the camp sports or trips each wanted to 
play her part well. As Dotty had taken a special 
fancy to June both girls were often found in her 
company. 

Among June’s other friends was an enterprising 
child of Isabel’s type, who had copied her brothers 
and who sought June’s companionship, largely be¬ 
cause she was so different. June, like Hilary, was 
of the consoling, steady type that makes a good con¬ 
fidante, and this ten-year-old had more than one 
woe to confide. For June herself camp life was 
doing a good deal in helping her to overcome her 
timidity. She learned and tried to practice the 
definition of a “good sport”, which was pinned up 
in the dining-room: 

“Somebody happy, jolly and kind; 

If she loses a game,—well, never mind.” 

There were some things which she found it hard 
to take pleasantly in this first experience with the 
companionship of a group. She hated the mischiev¬ 
ous tricks that some of them played, but tried to 
be patient whenever she was the victim. She learned 
to look in her bed to see if either caterpillar or 
pebbles were there, and made it over pleasantly 
whenever it was “made French”. One child upset a 
box of blueberries upon it when it was open to air, 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 119 

and one morning her suit-case was missing, found 
later in a distant klondike, where it had been carried 
“for fun”. 

“They think that it is really funny,” she con¬ 
fided to Hilary. “Several times Fve had it upon the 
tip of my tongue to say as Mother has said to us 
‘anybody could do that; a smart person wouldn’t 
even think it funny’, but I can’t do it, since I’m not 
bringing them up as Mother is us, and then they’d 
think I was mad. I must be different not to like it. 
And I did hate it about the sheets. Will the stain 
come out? Of course that was just an accident.” 

“Don’t worry about that. Mother gave us com¬ 
mon sheets and she knows that we can’t be as care¬ 
ful in camp life, though there is no sense in being 
destructive. Just get along as nicely as you can 
and keep pleasant. We have always had to be care¬ 
ful, for financial reasons, and then there is good 
sense in having some ‘thrift’. I don’t imagine that 
the parents of these girls want them to be as care¬ 
less with their own and other people’s property as 
a few of them are.” 

“I’ll try to do the best I can, but it seems so stingy 
not to lend things to the girls, and if I do I don’t 
have them when I need them. The other day when 
it was so wet Bess had my rubbers and I got my feet 
wet, and the head councillor met me and said, ‘Why, 
Junie, where are your rubbers?’ and I almost cried!” 


120 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


“That is more serious. I don’t know what you 
will do except to refuse to lend them. Wrap them 
in a paper and keep them in your trunk if neces- 
sary.” 

“Then they’ll say I’m mean.” 

“Let ’em. They all have or have had the neces¬ 
sary things; let them look after their own. Don’t 
you remember how it has been said again and again, 
‘Don’t lend; don’t borrow.’ And just yesterday 
the head councillor said, ‘It is not selfish to look 
after your own property.’ Those few careless girls 
make a lot of trouble for her, I guess. Notice all 
the things that are left in the office or assembly 
hall.” 

“I really do like that generous kind that will give 
anything they have,” said June thoughtfully. “Bess 
would give away her head, I guess; but her rubbers 
are gone and her sweater and a lot of other things 
and that is why she borrows. I can’t borrow, some¬ 
way, so I come to grief if I don’t have my own 
things.” 

“A lot of the girls just leave everything to their 
mothers, you know. They haven’t lived in a min¬ 
ister’s family where things have to be managed and 
everybody has to take a little responsibility.” 

“O, Hilary, I forgot. We have to have the doings 
next Friday or Saturday night. Have you any 
ideas? Our councillor said for each of us to think 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 121 


up something if we could and we are to meet after 
supper tonight to talk it over.” 

“How about some Mother Goose tableaux, or 
some charades for the girls to guess ?” 

“O, yes; that would be fun,” said June, clapping 
her hands. “Will you help me get dressed that 
night ?” 

“Yes, I’ll help in whatever you get up if your 
councillor wants me to. I’ll see you at supper if 
I have any more ideas.” 

The meeting of the committee after supper was 
a momentous occasion. What they were planning 
had to be kept a secret from the other girls or the 
entertainment would lose that element of surprise in 
which half the fun consists. 

“I just can’t think of a thing!” declared Dot. 
“O, yes I can, too,—why I can do something that 
we girls at school did in a drill one time.” 

“Good, Dotty,” said the councillor, “you can do 
it by yourself or show one or two of the other girls 
how to do it with you. Now that is your responsi¬ 
bility. Can we depend upon you to do it?” 

“Yes, I’ll get it up all myself.” 

One thought of one thing, another of something 
else. Hilary was brought in, and another meeting 
planned for the following morning before games. 
A long hike was planned for Friday, which would 
probably tire the girls, and caused a postponement 


122 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


of the Junior entertainment to Saturday night. But 
this pleased the Juniors as giving them more time. 
Dot and Jo were practicing some thing very hard to 
do. June was fixing something of Hilary’s to wear. 
Borrowing for theatricals was considered proper! 

Curtains were up for the entertainment this time. 
The Junior councillors had gathered in the Juniors 
to dress for their parts. Important as it seemed, 
some little folks will forget to note the time which 
will slip away so fast! 

“Isn’t it nice to have curtains?” said Jo. “When 
we had Little Red Riding-Hood we had to get things 
ready in the dark.” 

The first number on the program was a concert 
by the world’s greatest artists. Madame Galli-Curci 
appeared first, accompanied by Lilian with the 
guitar. The small prima donna had refused to 
sing anything appropriate to her years. “No, sir, 
I won’t sing a child’s song. Yes, of course, I know 
’em. How could I help it, when we sing them at 
school? But it has to be a grown-up song or else 
I won’t be Galli-Curci!” 

“Madame Shumann-Heink sings ‘Holy Night’.” 

“I wouldn’t call that a child’s song. Besides it 
is summer now. What songs do you know, Lilian? 
1 can learn anything in two days.” 

“Remarkable child!” sighed the councillor who 
was helping. “Get her anything she wants, Lilian.” 


< 

THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 123 

Jo folded her arms and stood calmly to wait what 
would be done. Lilian came to the rescue, and after 
trying over a number of songs she found that Jo 
was familiar with the tune of “O Promise Me”. 

This rendered that night in a high childish voice 
created quite as much of a sensation as the real 
prima donna could have desired, particularly in re¬ 
spect to the pronunciation of the words and division 
of syllables. “You-an-dl and “or-gunn” were espe¬ 
cially appreciated by the audience, who were appar¬ 
ently carried away by the effective close, “O, prom¬ 
uss me, O, prom-muss me!” Enthusiastic encores 
brought Jo back several times, but while she handled 
her train with ease and bowed and smiled with all 
the graces of the stage, she refused to repeat her 
effort and had not learned an encore. 

After the rest of the artists had appeared, four 
litle girls gave a drill as wooden dolls, while one of 
the councillors played “Narcissus.” This was Dot’s 
idea. 

The Mother Goose tableaux were especially 
pretty. They included Old King Cole, Little Boy 
Blue and other of the well know classics which 
were quickly guessed by the audience. Little Bo- 
peep had her crook and was shading her eyes as she 
looked for her sheep. Simple Simon was fishing in 
his mother’s pail. The cupboards in the wall which 


124 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


had been a part of the original farm-house kitchen 
were just the thing for old Mother Hubbard. 

‘The last two numbers will be charades/' an¬ 
nounced Dot. “The first is two words, in one act." 

The curtains were drawn aside, revealing one 
happy little girl curled up on a rug. She was deeply 
absorbed in a book, and ate candy from a box close 
at hand. The audience hesitated, whispered, and 
finally some one called “Little Content". That was 
the right answer, and the curtains closed. When 
they were again drawn they disclosed the entire 
group of Juniors sitting upon the floor and laugh¬ 
ing. Having been prepared by the previous char¬ 
ade, the audience at once cried, “Laugh-a-lot! 
Laugh-a-lot!” 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 125 


CHAPTER XIII. 

CAMP ATHLETICS. 


“Net ball.” 

“Out.” 

“Come on, now; she serves awfully swift; look 
out.” 

“Come on, Jenkie! Put all your strength into 
it!” 

“Hit it up! Hit it up! Keep it going!” 

“I served then; one point for us.” 

“What’s the score?” 

“Five all.” 

“Good! Good, Virgie!” 

“Now Eight,—your turn.” 

“Only one assist.” 

“Come up a little further. You can stand there. 
Every inch counts.” 

“My turn to serve?” 

“Hit it!” 

“O, how could I ? A mile above my dear head!” 

“What’s the matter with this team? That’s the 
third time, Isabel, that you’ve knocked Pat over, 
and Betty got hit in the eye.” 


326 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


“Y’see, you ran out of your place and were in 
my way.” 

“You dropped your comb, Bertha.” 

“What’s the score?” 

“Twelve to seven.” 

“Whose favor?” 

“The Pennacooks’.” 

“Come on, Kennebecs!” 

“Wake up, girls; don’t let ’em beat us!” 

“Did everybody serve? Begin all over? All 
right; I don’t want to cheat.” 

“That’s the way, keep it up; send it back.” 

“Out.” 

It is volley ball, in which two of the six teams 
are playing. Back and forth flies the big ball. Like 
the flag, it must not touch the ground. Girlish 
figures run hither and thither, strike the ball and 
send it flying over the net to the opposite side, 
where the performance is repeated. Good spirit 
prevails. They are playing to win, for the sake 
of the team and for personal reasons as well; but 
however eager or disappointed they may feel, no 
one shows ill will. Pride and camp spirit prevent 
that. Sometimes it is a little hard to accept the 
hindrances which the little girls or the less ex¬ 
perienced ones offer, but as a rule these are coached 
and encouraged by the rest of the team. A good 
play is applauded by both sides. 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 127 


“Now try it, June. That's it. Put a little more 
strength into it next time. Hit it hard and send 
it a litle higher. You get another turn. Toss it 
up and then bang away!" 

<r Send it to me and I’ll hit it over." 

June takes her stand, tosses up the ball and hits 
it. It goes off to the side, but one of the girls who 
stands there, hits it over the net. Back it comes 
and over it goes again, sent by a hard blow from 
Hilary. 

“They’re coming up fine." 

“Thirteen to ten." 

“Yes," cried the captain of the Kennebecs. 
“Where’s some wood?" she cries, rapping on her 
head. Come on, Kennebecs!" 

“Thirteen to eleven," announces the referee, as 
the Kennebecs score another point. The game 
grows exciting. 

“Good work, Lilian." 

“Get it, Margaret. O, you weren’t quick 
enough!" 

“Be ready." 

“Come on, Pennacooks!" 

“What’s the score?" 

“Fourteen to twelve." 

“Betty’s serve." 

The Pennacooks, nerved to greater effort by their 
higher score and the increasing score of the Ken- 


128 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


nebecs. made the fifteenth point and won the game. 
Two games out of three they had thus won, and 
the Kennebecs generously gave the first cheer for 
the winning team. 

“No hurry, girls/’ said Lilian, dropping down in 
the shade. A red-eyed vireo in the bushes had not 
stopped rooting for both sides during the game, 
and an olive-sided flycatcher had come out to sit 
on a wire by one of the tennis courts and inquire 
which side beat. So Hilary interpreted their re¬ 
marks, as she pointed them out to the girls. 

Hilary, June, Eloise, Lilian and Cathalina were 
among the defeated Kennebecs, while Isabel, Nora, 
Betty and Frances were of the victorious Penna- 
cooks. Helen and Marion played with the Ossipees, 
who were at present playing baseball down on what 
might be called Merrymeeting Green, near the water 
front. 

“The baseball games aren’t over yet,” Lilian con¬ 
tinued, “and besides they’ll have to rest.” The 
girls stretched out or curled up where tall bushes 
and some trees offered shade. 

“Whom do we play in basketball?” 

“The Ossipees.” 

“Well, we must beat them,” declared Hilary. “I’ll 
simply pass away if we can’t.” 

“Team work, girls,” said Eloise, who was cap¬ 
tain. 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 129 


“My, it’s hot this morning in the sun,” said 
Lilian. “Cathalina, I’ll beat you in tennis this 
afternoon, if we can get a court after rest hour.” 

“All right as to playing. As to beating, we’ll 
see.” 

“You’re the two champions among the Seniors, 
aren’t you?” 

“I guess so,” replied Lilian. 

“Of course you’ll get a court, then. And you’ll 
have an audience, too. Which court do you want? 
We’ll see that you get it. I’m terribly thirsty. 
Let’s go over to the club house and get a drink. We 
can sit on the porch till the girls come. There’s 
always a wonderful breeze there. I suppose your 
team is at baseball next, Nora?” 

“Yes, and we must be going, too,—come on, 
girls.” 

This was a busy week in athletics. The July tour¬ 
naments were on. Tennis was being played off as 
could be managed about the courts. The schedule 
was posted in the club house. Lilian and Cathalina 
were easily the best in tennis and had yet their 
match to play. 

In volley ball, baseball and basketball, the six 
teams played against each other. Every girl in camp 
was assigned to a team, though a few were excused 
for some special reason, and only took part in the 
games at times. There was not the intense excite- 


130 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


ment or the temptation to over-strain that there is 
sometimes in the games between schools; but there 
was great interest in these active sports and a very 
human desire to excel. 

Volley ball and tennis were played upon courts, 
which were located on the level ground back of the 
camp buildings. Beyond the courts stretched a big 
meadow, partly level, but sloping down to bushes 
and trees along the back water of the Kennebec. On 
the other side of courts and meadow were bushes 
and trees and the charming road or lane which 
wound along past Sunset Rock, the pine grove and 
the birches, through Merrymeeting boundaries, to 
the world of the mainland beyond. Just back of 
the club house and at the beginning of this little 
road were the posts and baskets for the basketball 
games. 

That afternoon, though the sun was still hot, 
the cool Maine breeze stirred the sunny locks of 
Lilian and Cathalina as the girls met for the final 
test of skill in tennis. Both girls played well, hav¬ 
ing played for several years. A few councillors 
and a number of the girls occupied a bench or two, 
or found seats on the grass beside the favorite court, 
the one nearest the lane. 

“Now, Lil,” said Cathalina, as swinging their 
racquets they walked toward the court, 4 ‘you are 
such a dear, that only I’m afraid of one thing.” 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 131 


“What’s that?” 

“That you will hate to beat me and won’t play 
your best.” 

“I thought that all out, Cathalina, and I think 
that the only fair thing is for each of us to play 
her level best. And don’t you let me beat you be¬ 
cause you hate to beat me, or get lazy and do not 
care!” 

“I guess that is the more likely,” acknowledged 
Cathalina, laughing. “I’m a lazy-bones, but I prom¬ 
ise to do my best. Beware!” 

“Here comes the champs!” 

“What’s the matter with the champions ?” 

“Rah, rah, Lil!” 

“Rah, rah, Cathie!” 

The comparatively small company gathered near 
the court were more audience than rooters, and ap¬ 
plauded impartially both players, though Isabel 
never failed to cheer some good play by Cathalina, 
and Virgie shouted at the top of her Western lungs 
for Lilian. 

“Look at Lil. Good work, Lilian; you have a 
wicked serve!” 

“Fifteen—love.” 

So evenly matched were the girls that most of 
the games were deuce games. Fourteen were played 
before Lilian won the first set. 

The second set was won by Cathalina, who played 


132 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


with brilliance and determination. Her most effec¬ 
tive play was what the girls cheered as a “slam”, 
almost impossible to return, which she delivered 
with surprising force for one so slight. This she 
had learned from Philip. But Lilian, too, had a 
brother, had been accustomed to playing with Cath- 
alina, and was not as much disturbed by this play as 
were the more inexperienced girls against whom 
Cathalina had been playing during these days of 
tournament. 

“Do you read my mind, Lil,” asked Cathalina 
once, when Lilian so quickly reached the particular 
spot back in the court where she was needed. 

“Fm sorry, Cathalina; that was a peach,” said 
Lilian, as one of Cathalina’s returns went an inch 
or so outside. 

“Great cut, Lilian,” remarked Cathalina, when 
Lilian’s ball went over the net, hit the right spot, and 
refused to bounce to Cathalina’s racquet. 

In the third set, excitement rose among the spec¬ 
tators. Endurance was not Cathalina’s strong point 
and she grew tired, but played on apparently as well 
as ever. She had won four games, Lilian five, and 
the score of the present game stood forty to thirty 
in Lilian’s favor, when she returned, backhand, a 
difficult ball from Cathalina. It dropped over the 
net and Cathalina was not quite quick enough to 
reach the net from the back of the court. The game 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 133 


was Lilian's and wild applause proclaimed her win¬ 
ner of the tennis tournament. 

Meanwhile in the bushes two deeply interested 
spectators had arrived by way of the lane. Having 
been informed by Jo and June, who were playing 
‘Jacks” on the club house floor, that Cathalina and 
Lilian were finishing the tournament, two masculine 
visitors decided to go to the courts by the back way 
and remain unseen if possible while watching the 
progress of the game. June had suggested it, say¬ 
ing that it might “fuss” the girls, since they were 
not expecting company. 

“You’re a bright, kind little June-bug, aren’t 
you?” asked Campbell, and June gave him one of her 
happy smiles, as he strode off with Philip Van Bus- 
kirk. 

“Well-well! Which will you root for, Philip, 
sister or best girl?” 

“We’ll not dare root for anybody if we have to 
keep out of sight.” 

“Wise reply. True, and doesn’t give you away.” 

Philip scarcely knew where loyalty demanded his 
presence. He was proud of his pretty little sister, 
but every time he looked at the graceful Lilian 
he fell more deeply in love. 

“How about a love set with Lilian, old man?” 
queried Campbell. 


134 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


“I’ll play one any day,” replied the unembarrassed 
Philip. 

“But ‘love' means ‘nothing’,” added Campbell. 

“Unfortunately so.” 

“Good for Cathalina!” exclaimed Campbell, with 
cousinly regard, at an especially good play. Before 
this he had found where Hilary was sitting, and 
did not find the game so engrossing that he could 
not include Hilary in his line of vision. 

Then came the last plays, Lilian's victory, and 
Philip found himself watching her, as she received 
congratulations and talked happily with the girls. 
The boys waited a few moments till most of the 
crowd were moving off, a few Greycliff girls still 
around Lilian and Cathalina, then walked around 
into sight. 

“A surprise for you, Cathalina," called Campbell. 

Turning, the girls saw Philip and Campbell, and 
with many exclamations of wonder and pleasure, 
went to meet them. 

“Why, Philip Van Buskirk!” exclaimed Catha¬ 
lina. “Why didn’t you write that you were com¬ 
ing?” 

“Didn’t know it myself till the last minute, Kit¬ 
ten. Say I was proud of your playing. And Lilian, 
that was great!” 

“Were you back there all the time?” 

“Just for the last two games. It was all we could 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 135 


to to keep still and not join in the rooting, but June 
warned us not to appear before the games were 
over. ,, 

“When did you arrive, Philip ?” asked Hilary. 

“This morning. Campbell wrote that this would 
be a good time to come, I wired him and came. 
He says that there is to be a picnic up here to¬ 
morrow.” 

“Yes, indeed; we entertain the Boothbay boys.” 

“Let’s sit down right here and talk,” suggested 
Cathalina, moving toward the benches. “Then we 
can show you around a little.” 

“I’m afraid we’ll have to put that off till tomor¬ 
row,” said Campbell, “if we go down to camp with 
the tide. But we can visit a little while.” Thus 
speaking, he waved Hilary to a seat next to Catha¬ 
lina on a bench and dropped on the grass at her 
feet. 


136 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


CHAPTER XIV. 

PICNICKERS FROM BOOTHBAY CAMP. 

*‘0, dear ! It’s going to rain today, Eloise, look 
at the fog!” 

“That doesn’t mean anything up here, Isabel.” 

“But it was so cloudy last night, too. If any¬ 
thing happens to spoil the picnic I’ll be mad.” 

“Nothing will,” contributed Frances. “If it 
storms, they’ll wait till the storm is over and then 
come. And if it keeps on raining, we can have 
, fun in the club house and the dining room. But I 
don’t think that it will rain.” 

“I want to see what happens on a picnic when 
the boys are here,” said Isabel. “When do they 
come ?” 

“Right after rest hour, probably. They have 
to get ready, of course, and the Aeolus won’t leave 
here till after dinner.” 

“Why the Aeolus?” 

“There are so many boys that the big boat will 
go after them.” 

“And what do we do?” 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 137 


“The program will be announced at breakfast or 
dinner, I think. Probably there will be some games, 
different things to make us get acquainted. We are 
supposed to be the hostesses and will show the boys 
around the grounds if they want us to, but I im¬ 
agine that the little boys will want to tear around 
by themselves. The older boys will pay more at¬ 
tention to us, though. They will all be very polite 
and appreciative, for their head councillor is quite 
particular about their manners. 

It was almost three o’clock when the boats ap¬ 
peared from Boothbay Camp. The day had cleared, 
though occasional clouds obscured the afternoon 
sun. The Aeolus came gliding in, full of boys of all 
sizes, with their councillors. Many of them wore 
white duck in honor of the occasion. Others were 
in the usual camp uniform. Standing in or on the 
Aeolus, they hailed Merrymeeting, first with the 
Boothbay, then with the Merrymeeting yell, and 
were answered by such girls as happened to be about, 
for the place of reception was at the club house. 

Cathalina was watching for Philip and Campbell, 
whom she intended to have a delightful time if she 
could manage it, and proud she was to introduce 
them to all the interesting girls. Campbell, in turn, 
introduced the other councillors and other boys, and 
the picnic was well started. The younger boys and 
girls had a hare and hounds chase, which was some- 


138 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


what strenuous for the boys in white duck, but they 
came out of it in good humor, if a little warm and 
disheveled. 

“They shall have their heart's desire, the dears," 
thought Cathalina, as she stood apart for a moment 
and looked at the chatting, laughing company. It 
was not hard to manage it, for Campbell never got 
very far from Hilary, and Phil was usually where 
he could quickly reach Lilian. 

“Pardon me, Philip, I want Lilian to take you 
around a little and show you Marshmallow Point and 
the pine grove, and, Hilary, will you take Camp¬ 
bell ? There is Sunset Rock, too, and the lane. The 
boys must see all the places we rave about. I'll join 
you later." Cathalina had seen to it that neither 
Hilary nor Lilian had planned to take part in any 
of the games that were arranged for, and had frank¬ 
ly told them why. “I want you to be free to enter¬ 
tain Campbell and Philip. The other girls and I 
will help with the rest." 

Neither Lilian nor Hilary, then, were surprised 
or embarrassed, and the four strolled first down to 
Marshmallow Point, properly called Chopp's Point, 
where they viewed the remains of many a camp fire 
and sat on the rocks to talk of their schools, the 
camps, and many other interests both serious and 
amusing. But when they topped the hill again, 
Lilian and Philip turned toward the pine grove. 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 139 


while Hilary and Campbell walked on past the club 
house to the little road and Sunset Rock. No ex¬ 
planation seemed necessary. 

“This is where we find the cranberry plants,” 
Hilary was saying, as she stooped to pick a bit of the 
vine with an unripe cranberry on it. Our prettiest 
blueberries are near Sunset Rock.” 

“Where is that?” asked Campbell. 

“Up this way.” 

Lilian was just pointing out the pine grove to 
Philip and they had turned to go there when they 
looked back to see Hilary and Campbell turning 
the other way, but looking back to wave friendly 
hands. 

“There are the most beautiful rocks of all in the 
pine grove, Philip, and along the shore of Merry- 
meeting Bay.” 

Down the narrow trail they walked into the 
grove, Lilian leading. Little blueberry bushes, 
prickly juniper, bright green moss, sprawling arbor 
vitae, tall sweet ferns and other greenery lined the 
way. Then they reached the thick carpet of pine 
needles and climbed down a natural stairway, none 
too regular, made of pine roots padded with moss 
and brown pine needles. 

“This is the way to the swimming cove,” said 
Lilian, pointing to the rocks and the water, which 
appeared through the trees. “The hunters' cabin is 


140 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


on in that direction, a short walk. Would you like 
to go on there ?” 

“I’d rather sit out on the rocks, I believe, and 
talk to you while I have the chance,” replied Philip 
quickly, “but wherever you want to go, I’ll be glad 
to tag along.” 

“I’d rather visit, too, Philip,” responded Lilian 
pleasantly, as she looked about for the best location. 
“Let’s climb back up to my favorite rock. We’ll be 
close at hand if the girls want us, and by ourselves 
if many of the folks come down to the grove.” 

Lilian’s sweater made a comfortable cushion for 
both as perched upon the firm old Maine rock they 
began to talk to each other of their dreams and 
ambitions. It was just as engrossing as it had been 
upon their ride from Rochester to Buffalo. While 
they talked, the bell rang for swimming. 

“They are back from the hare and hounds chase 
and that is the call for swimming; do you want to 
go, Philip?” 

“No; do you?” 

“Not a bit; Tell me some more about you pipe 
organ lessons. Which do you like best, organ or 
piano? I suppose piano is easier.” 

“My old organ teacher and I quarrel every once 
in a while about that. He began with piano, too, 
and likes it, of course, but says that anybody who 
gives pipe organ study a fair trial likes it better. 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 141 


so many more effects and so on, and so much power 
in the organ. But I hold out for piano still, though 
I thoroughly enjoy the pipe organ work and do not 
find it so hard because of having played piano so 
long. One reads music, you know, and has the 
fingering of keys and the idea of expression and all.” 

“Have you had harmony and counterpoint ?” 

“Yes; have you?” 

“No, but I must, because I try to make up little 
songs and do not know whether the accompaniments 
are right or not. O, dear, I’ll never catch up to 
you!” 

Philip’s face showed how little he thought Lilian 
needed anything more to make her perfect, as he re¬ 
plied, “You are way beyond me, I’m afraid. Let me 
help you with accompaniment. I’d love to try it! 
Send me the melody and words and what idea of 
accompaniment you have, whatever you have writ¬ 
ten, and I will see if you have broken any of the 
rules at least, and if you want me to, I’ll perhaps 
suggest some chords that would be good.” 

“O, that will be wonderful!” Lilian clasped her 
hands in delight. “But wouldn’t it bother you too 
much ? You will be so busy with your own work.” 

“I’d consider it a privilege.” 

“Well, you are nice!” But something in Philip’s 
tone made Lilian hurry on to say, “I have always 
wanted to be a singer, Philip, but Mother says it’s 


142 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


an awful life. She says that I can have the lessons 
and sing without being a concert singer. But still 
sometimes I think I would like to try it.” 

“I’m very fond of music, you know,” replied 
Philip, “but Father needs me in the business, and 
I like his line, too. I want a regular job. I think 
every man ought to have one, and as I don’t care 
to be a public performer or a music teacher, I think 
I’ll just keep it for recreation, boring my family 
with occasional practice and much private enjoy¬ 
ment of my own.” 

“From what Cathalina says, I judge that your 
family is never bored.” 

“They do seem to stand it, but they are a long- 
suffering lot. And lately,” Philip’s face sobered, 
and he twirled the sweet fern that he held, “I’ve been 
planning for a musical wife, that is . . . she’s 
pretty young now . . . if I get home from war 
to ask her.” 

Lilian’s heart tried to turn over, but did not suc¬ 
ceed, and as he spoke of the war she looked at 
him quickly,—“O, Phil!” 

“We are bound to get into it, Father thinks, and 
says that when we do get in I may go, not before. 
Campbell and I and most of our friends are making 
our plans accordingly.” 

Silence for a few moments. Lilian played with 
a sprig of blueberries, which Philip had picked for 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 143 


her, and Philip still twirled the bit of sweet fern. 

“Say Lilian, would you mind writing to me?” 

“I'd love to, Philip.” 

“Right along, I mean, not just once in a while. 
I’d like to tell you things, and know what you are 
doing all the time and where you are.” 

Philip spoke so earnestly that Lilian almost 
gasped. Matters were moving rapidly in this new 
friendship. 

“You see you're,—well, you're different. I never 
met a girl like you. You’re so sweet, you know!” 
and Philip put his long brown fingers for just a 
moment over the little tanned hand on the rock. 

Lilian’s blue eyes met Phil’s dark ones and fell 
before them, while Philip watched a sweet, serious 
face surrounded by a bright halo of hair on which 
the afternoon sun was shining. 

“Here come Cathalina and Eloise, Philip,” and 
Lilian waved a hand to the approaching girls. 

“It’s about time for the supper, Lilian,” said 
Cathalina, “and I thought we’d better look up you 
folks. Supper is half an hour earlier, you know, 
and I wasn’t sure that you knew it. Whoo-oo, 
everybody!” 

Cathalina raised her voice a little and repeated 
her announcement of “almost supper-time”, that a 
group of boys and girls down on the cove rocks 


144 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


might hear her. “Where are Hilary and Campbell, 
Lilian ?” 

“They started to walk down the lane to Sunset 
Rock, to see birds, I guess.” 

“Yes, to see birds,” laughed Cathalina, as she and 
Eloise ran back along the winding path. “I feel 
as if I were an entertainment committee, don’t you, 
Elo’?” 

“Yes, indeed, with young councillors and boys and 
girls to meet and introduce. I hope that everybody 
has been having a good time.” 

“I know that Phil and Campbell are! And there 
aren’t any lonesome looking youngsters hanging 
around anyhow. Everybody has had something to 
do or somebody to talk to.” 

For the cafeteria supper, the “bread line” was 
arranged with the purpose of making it easy for 
the boys and girls to be grouped together while eat¬ 
ing their supper. First a girl, then a boy, they filed 
into the dining-room, past the tables which had been 
arranged cafeteria fashion, the girls’ young coun¬ 
cillors serving. Then out by the other door went 
the long line, carrying their suppers to be eaten 
upon the green. “Seconds” were permitted, except 
for ice cream and cake. The quick disappearance 
of supplies and the merry conversation among the 
picnickers indicated a good time. After the coun¬ 
cillors had had their picnic lunch and the tables 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 145 


were moved back, music and games occupied the 
company till time for leave-taking. 

“I shall be up tomorrow, if nothing happens,” 
said Philip to the girls. “And if Campbell can get 
away I’ll try to drag him along.” 

“Yes; 'try to drag me along’ is good 1” said Camp¬ 
bell. “If he does not select a time when I can get 
away there will be trouble.” 

“How soon must you leave, Philip?” asked Cath- 
alina. 

“Tomorrow evening. If you have anything to 
send home, have it ready when I come up. Good¬ 
bye, everybody. We have had a wonderful time.” 

With parting gestures and camp yells, the manly 
crew boarded their boats and took their departure. 


146 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


CHAPTER XV. 

A SHORE DINNER. 

“What is this 'shore dinner’, Marion, that I 
hear the girls talking about?” 

“I don’t know, Betty; ask Frances.” 

"O, Frances!” 

“Whoo-hoo,—in a minute.” Frances presently 
came in from hanging her bathing suit on the line 
outside the klondike. 

"What is it, Betty?” 

"The 'shore dinner’, Frances; what is it, and 
where is it? I have been hearing the girls ask, ‘O, 
are you going to the shore dinner?’ but someway 
neglected to inquire. Do we go to some place on 
the shore and have a clam chowder or something?” 

"No. The shore dinner is of sea foods, to be 
sure, but we have it at New Meadows Inn. They 
take us down to Bath and from there we take the 
trolley car to the Inn. I went last year and want 
to go again. I just love their lobster stew!” 

"'Love’ food, Frances?” 

"I’m afraid I do, Miss Patty.” 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 147 


“Can we stop in Bath, too?” continued Betty. 

“Yes,—at least they always do let us shop a 
while.” 

“Good! I’m going. How about you, Lilian?” 

“O, I’m in for everything,” laughed Lilian, who 
was very happy these days. “Will you go, Hilary?” 

“Indeed I shall. Do you suppose I’d miss a trip 
like that? Besides, I’m interested in this Maine 
country. I never was in New England before. I 
hope we’ll have the trip to Augusta soon.” 

“Is Augusta the capitol of Maine?” 

“Listen to her! Go and ask Virgie. She studied 
geography last year. Are you going, Cathalina?” 

“Of course I am. I am particularly fond of 
clams and lobster.” 

“Ugh! clams!” said Betty. “But if you all eat 
’em, I will or perish in the attempt.” 

“Mercy, Betty! Taste ’em and go slow is my 
motto,” said Hilary. 

“It is always just as well to have decided whether 
or not you want to take a trip,” suggested Frances. 
“We’ll be asked and have to make a quick decision 
perhaps. They have to know about the numbers 
going, of course, both to order the dinner at the 
Inn and to plan about boats. Will June go, Hilary ?” 

“She will hate to miss anything, but I’m a little 
afraid to have her go. It might upset her to eat that 
stuff when she isn’t used to it, and the trolley some- 


148 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


times makes her sick. I’ll talk to her about it. June 
has lots of sense, but once in a while she takes a spell 
and will or won’t do something. The worm turns, 
you know.” 

“Yes, I know the feeling,” said Lilian. 

“Why, Hilary, at times you have a touch of 
almost human intelligence,” said Frances, grinning 
broadly. “Get little sister to decide for herself?” 

“That is the idea.” 

As in odd coincidence it often happens, the shore 
dinner trip was announced at breakfast. The 
younger girls were advised not to go, as the only 
attraction was the shore dinner, and that a doubtful 
pleasure, unless they liked sea foods. All who so 
desired, however, were permitted to go and were 
to leave their names at the office at once or within 
a reasonable time. The dinner would be ordered 
by telephone and the boats would start in time 
to catch the twelve o’clock trolley car at Bath. 

Hilary had not had time to prepare June’s mind 
to stay at home, but to her relief June came running 
to her soon after breakfast. 

“I’m not going, Hilary. The girls say that they 
just have old clams and lobster and things like that, 
and can’t eat any ice cream afterwards at Bath 
because it wouldn’t go with the shore dinner, and 
you know that I can’t even eat oysters. Are you 
going?” 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 149 


“Yes; is there anything you'd like me to get for 
you at Bath?" 

“.We need some more films for the camera, and 
I need a bathing cap. Mine’s all busted up.” 

“ 'Torn/ little sister.” 

“O, Hilary, I heard you say ‘bust’ the other day.” 

Hilary laughed, and to change the subject, said* 
“I suppose you will not object if I bring- you some- 
thing good.” 

“You can’t. Don’t you remember what was said 
at breakfast? Nobody can buy candy or anything 
to eat this trip, because they couldn’t keep from eat¬ 
ing it and so it’s safer not to buy ’em. See?” 

“Sure enough. All right. Have a good time, 
Junie, and don’t try too many wild stunts.” This 
last because it was so astounding to note how 
June had 'come out’ since coming to camp. Timid 
at first, afraid to get out of her depth in the water, 
used to considering what would be proper for the: 
minister’s little girl to do, conscientious June had 
now thrown all timidity to the winds, frolicked in 
the water like a water-sprite since she had learned 
to swim under instruction, and was daily getting 
so much of the group spirit that Hilary was some¬ 
times afraid of her going to the other extreme. But 
the daily exercise and happy times outdoors were 
giving her much color and the scales were marking 


150 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


greater gain every time that June was weighed with 
the rest. 

“Think what a dress-up occasion this is, girls,” 
said Lilian, as she dived into her trunk for “real 
clothes”. “Doesn’t it seem funny to wear a suit 
and gloves?” 

“Gloves!” exclaimed Cathalina. “I’m not going 
to wear gloves!” 

“My, Cathalina, how you’ve changed!” 

“Yes, isn’t it funny? But I just love to dress 
like a camper. I think our costume is fine, too, and 
very becoming.” 

“Going to wear your sport hat ?” 

“Yes.” 

All the way down to Bath the girls in the Aeolus, 
for the numbers were too many for the Truant, 
chatted, sang, or tried to compose verses worthy 
of the annual prize song. And never did the girls 
tire of the beautiful river, its eddies through the 
Burnt Jackets, its rocky banks, its breezes and fly¬ 
ing or floating gulls. The trolley ride carried them 
over a winding way again, up hill and down dell, 
past typical New England homes in town or coun¬ 
try. Presently they found themselves at New Mead¬ 
ows Inn and were ushered into its dining-room. 

“O, Cathalina, thank fortune you are with us,” 
whispered Isabel, as she sat down next to Catha- 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 151 


lina. “You will tell us how to eat the sea food, 
won’t you?” 

“If there is anything you do not know about,” 
replied Cathalina smiling. “You’ve eaten soup?” 
noticing that the lobster stew was coming. 

“Mean thing! Yes we’ve had soup before!” 

The lobster stew proved most popular. “We 
don’t have lobster stew in Dakota,” explained Vir- 
gie, as she accepted the offer of a second helping. 

“It is always offered here,” said Frances, “and 
all right to take it, and some only care for the 
stew.” 

In came the clam course. The Western girls 
looked at each other and Isabel whispered to Vir¬ 
ginia, “Shades of clams and ‘craw-daddles’ in our 
old creek at home! Now tell us, Cathalina.” 

In a low tone Cathalina replied, “Open the shell, 
take the clam off where it is fastened to the shell 
and hold it by that end with your fingers, dip it 
in the little cup of broth, then in the melted butter, 
and eat it.” 

“Why, they’re good” said Isabel in surprise, 
“taste like oysters.” 

Fried clams, lobsters on a little platter, New Eng¬ 
land doughnuts and a plate of crisp cookies, pickles, 
and hot cups of tea or coffee, all came in for a 
share of praise from these hungry campers. Coffee 


152 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


was not served at camp, but permitted on these spe¬ 
cial occasions. 

At Bath they divided into parties, a councillor in 
charge of each, and scattered to the bookstores, the 
shoe stores, the jeweller’s, the drug store, the dry 
goods stores or the ten cent store on their different 
errands, till the time agreed upon to meet at the 
boat. Then again the curving Aeolus took them up 
the river. 

“Swimming meet tomorrow, girls,” reminded 
Hilary, “you going to try, Cathalina?” 

“No; I’m not speedy enough to race, though I’ve 
learned to swim so much better already. It’s a 
shame that I can’t with all the summers I’ve been 
at the shore. I’m going to do more of it at school 
next year. Are you going to enter, Hilary.” 

“Yes, you know that I always have to try every¬ 
thing. I’ll not win, though. How about you, 
Virgie?” 

“Not I. I never saw water I wanted to swim 
in till I came to school last year. I love to swim now, 
but I’m no fish like Izzy.” 

“There it is again! She calls me a fish now!” 
Isabel pretended to be offended. 

“Which is it, Isabel, the ‘crawl’ or the ‘over¬ 
hand’?” 

“The ‘crawl’ this time.” 

Arrived at camp, the girls saw the Dixie from 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 153 


Boothbay Camp tied up at the dock, and half way 
up the hill they met Campbell, who greeted them 
and walked back to the club house with them. 

“Is this the way you reward me for calling upon 
you?—coming home just as I have to leaver’ 

“It is not quite that bad, I hope,” said Cathalina. 
“Do you have to hurry off ?” 

“Before long, I’m afraid, whenever the ‘captain’ 
says the word. We brought up some mail and other 
things.” 

“Come up on the porch,” invited Cathalina. 

One of the swings and a few chairs held the party, 
which included Hilary, Eloise, Cathalina, Betty 
and Lilian, besides their guests. Then Jo and June 
came running around, their heads scarcely to the 
level of the porch floor. 

“O, here are the girls. I wonder if they stood 
the sea food all right. How’s the lobster ?” inquired 
June, waving at Hilary and not seeing the young 
man in the swing. 

“Now what do you mean, young lady,—address¬ 
ing your sister as a lobster? Come right up and 
apologize!” 

“O, Campbell, you’re so funny!” The little girls 
ran up the steps, crossed the porch and June squeezed 
herself into the swing by Campbell, Hilary moving 
over. 

“Do you like the little boys, Campbell?” 


154 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 

“Yes, Junie, we have great times. I’ll tell you 
about them one of these days. You are coming 
down to Boothbay on the picnic, aren’t you ?” 

“O, I should say I am!” 

“Careful, June,” warned Hilary. “Watch your 
speech.” 

“Did you ever hear the story of the hunters’ 
cabin?” 

“Our little cabin, Campbell?” 

“Yes, or thereabouts.” 

“No; except that hunters often go there during 
the hunting season. We found the skeleton of a 
fox up there the other day. Tell us what the story 
is.” 

“The story I heard is that there was an old smug¬ 
gler who had his cabin up here, buried his treasure 
and was lost in a storm in the harbor. The treasure 
is still buried here, ah-ha!” 

“O, really?” 

“Nonsense, Campbell; you’re making it up. Some¬ 
body would have found it long ago.” 

“I’m no authority myself, but that is one of the 
stories that they were telling in camp last night.” 

“Come up some day, Mr. Stuart, and we’ll go 
up there and dig!” said Jo. 

“Where is the place?” 

“O, just a little way—up Merrymeeting Bay,” 
sang Lilian. “It’s in the pine grove.” 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 155 


“Well, I’m a busy man these days, with a lot of 
lively kids to look after. Save some of the treas¬ 
ure for me. ,, 

“Yes; you may have all we find/’ generously 
offered Hilary. 

“Don’t make such a rash offer, Hilary,” said 
Eloise, “we might really find something. Can’t 
you stay to supper, Mr. Stuart?” 

“No, thank you; it’s after five o’clock now, the 
next meal at six, and we must get back to keep our 
especial division of boys from running off with the 
place.” 


158 THE GREYCLIFF GIKLS IN CAMP 


CHAPTER XVI. 

THE PICNIC TO BOOTHBAY. 

“This is certainly one wonderful time to me,” 
remarked Virgie to Isabel. “Lobster and clams on 
Tuesday, either a trip or something going on every 
minute since, and now this picnic to the boys’ island. 
I have to shake myself sometimes and say ‘remem¬ 
ber the Maine’ or something for fear I’ll get spoiled. 
And G. G. G. G. again next year!” 

“Explain your abbreviations; something to do 
with Greycliff, I suppose.” 

“Yes; Greycliff Gay, Grand and Glorious. Won’t 
we be in fine trim for the sports there? We girls 
never half appreciated our privileges there.” 

“It takes camp life to wake us up, doesn’t it?” 

“Yes. Then, of course, there are so many other 
things that you have to do at school.” 

“A few lessons, for instance.” 

“And I have too much sense to tire myself out 
on athletics and not get those lessons. I say to 
myself every so often ‘Virginia Hope, here is your 
chance to learn something; don’t miss it!” 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 157 


“Miss Randolph has the right idea. Do you re¬ 
member how she says to us once in a while ‘Take 
the hard courses, girls. Make your minds work 
and you will never regret it’ ?” 

“I’m going to have school and a little athletics 
during the year, and camp in the summer, with lots 
of it, if I can, after this.” 

About ten o’clock the girls started for Boothbay. 
As this was a very popular picnic, held annually 
nobody but a few councillors remained at home. 
The boats went down the river with the girls sing¬ 
ing as usual, the weather propitious, young hearts 
gay. 

“Shall we have a visit with Campbell, Hilary?” 
asked June, who had been quite taken with the 
young man. 

Lilian glanced roguishly at Hilary, who had re¬ 
plied soberly to June. “Yes, perhaps so, but I think 
that he will be quite busy with the entertaining and 
all.” 

“Probably he will have a few minutes for you 
and Hilary, June,” said Lilian. June perceived that 
there was some undercurrent of mischief, but not 
understanding just what, subsided. 

“I wish Philip were here,” said Hilary, “don’t 
you, Lilian ?” 

“Cathalina’s the one who would wish so the most,” 
said June, “because he’s her brother.” 


158 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


‘'Can't the rest of us like him too?" asked Hilary, 
who was rather regretting her blunt retort to Lilian's 
teasing. 

“O, yes; we all couldn't help liking Philip, but 
sisters, of course, are nearest." 

At this the girls smiled and Cathalina said, “I 
forgot to tell you all about my letter from Philip. 
I read it in a hurry just before we left. Somebody 
must have brought up some mail late last night, be¬ 
cause I looked just before we went to our klondike 
and there was nothing for any of us in the box. 
He wrote that he met Lilian's brother in New 
York the other day. They just happened to be at 
lunch at the same place and were eating away with¬ 
out knowing each other, when in walked Judge 
North, and sat down by Dick, saying that he found 
he could get away from somewhere after all. Then 
he spied Philip and Philip saw him. They had met 
at Rochester, you know. Dick is reading law with 
his father, isn't he, Lilian?" 

“Yes. Our families seem to meet by chance, 
don't they?" 

“Philip said that he is a fine fellow. He took 
Dick and the Judge out home later for dinner, and 
Father and the Judge had a great talk over the war, 
politics, business and everything. I say ‘Dick' as 
if I knew your brother, Lilian, but Philip called him 
that in the letter and I have heard you speak of him 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 159 


so for so long. I wouldn't think of addressing him 
so familiarly.” 

“We have been trying to call him ‘Richard’ 
lately, since he is so grown up, but can’t remember 
to do it.” 

“ ‘Richard’ is prettier,—‘Richard North’,” com¬ 
mented Cathalina. 

“Dick wrote me a little scribble, too,” said Lilian. 
“I was so surprised, because I rarely hear from him. 
We get news of each other through Mother, of 
course. He said that next to Mother, Mrs Van 
Buskirk was the most lovely woman he ever met.” 

Cathalina looked pleased at this. “O, isn’t that 
nice? and that he is so loyal to his own mother, 
too.” 

“You must meet our mother, Cathalina, and it 
would be nice if they knew each other.” Lilian 
did not mention that she, too, had heard from Philip. 
She intended to tell both Cathalina and Hilary, 
who was now her closest friend, but the conversa¬ 
tion in the pine grove, and the letters, were just her 
own now. 

“Here we are at Boothbay. I believe that Thorn 
Island is the name of the boys’ island. We are go¬ 
ing around to the other dock, aren’t we? These are 
certainly high rocks. What a great old river the 
Kennebec is! Where’s our little Canadian warbler? 
—O, Betty!” 


160 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


Betty had been sitting up in front with Marion 
and Frances, but joined Cathalina as soon as they 
landed. 

The boys and their councillors had made great 
plans for the entertainment of the girls. The pic¬ 
nic meal was at noon, instead of the later time when 
it was celebrated at Merrymeeting. With great 
gallantry the boys waited upon the girls, who en¬ 
joyed every minute. The girls had been reminded 
by their head councillor that morning at breakfast 
that they should show their appreciation of the 
courtesies offered at Boothbay, and that they should 
consider how much easier it always was for the girls 
to accept attentions than it was for the younger and 
shy boys to offer them. 

In the afternoon the boys played a “left-hand” 
game of baseball with the girls, then staged a regu¬ 
lar game, at which the girls rooted impartially for 
both teams. There were also some singles and 
doubles in tennis, which showed the boys’ skill. It 
must be admitted that in athletics the boys are 
usually ahead. But the girls did not mind being 
beaten, even when the boys were compelled to use 
their left hands to throw and catch, and the boys 
admitted that the girls played well, “for girls”. 

Not until after the cafeteria dinner did Camp¬ 
bell have time to visit with Hilary, on whom, how¬ 
ever, he quite often kept an eye. But when the 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 161 


games were in progress, he came up and asked her 
to take a stroll around with him. This singling out 
of Hilary did not pass unnoticed by the other girls, 
and Hilary knew that she might come in for a good 
share of teasing from the Merrymeeting company. 
But so far there was only good comradeship between 
Hilary and Campbell, at least, so far as any ex¬ 
pression of feeling was concerned. Both were quite 
young, with some school years before them and 
life purposes to be worked out. 

“O, Campbell,” called June as Hilary and Camp¬ 
bell passed a group of the younger boys and girls 
who were playing a game. ‘‘Tell me more about 
the hunters’ cabin before we go, will you?” 

“All I know is what I told you the other day. 
Ask Jack here. She wants to hear those smuggler 
and pirate stories, Jack, that the boys were telling.” 

“O, could you tell me, Jack?” 

Jack was a bright-eyed youngster of about four¬ 
teen years, who was usually ashamed to be seen 
talking to a girl. But in his enforced position as 
host it was different. Several of the boys and girls 
immediately sat down upon the big rock near to 
hear or help tell the story. 

“Who told it in the first place, Jack?” asked one 
of the boys, a little fellow of some nine years. 

“A boy last year was telling the first I ever heard 
about this country. I think he made it up, because 


162 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


he told us the awfullest yarns all the time about 
ghosts and pirates and everything; but it was fun 
to listen, and we all added to it” 

“Come on and tell, Jack.” June was sitting with 
her elbows on her knees, her face in her hands, 
ready to listen in breathless interest. 

“All right. You know that cabin up at Merry- 
meeting doesn’t look very old, does it?” 

“No. It’s made of shingles, isn’t it? Seems so 
silly to try to have a story like that one about it.” 

“Well, that wasn’t the original cabin, accord¬ 
ing to Tom’s story, but built on the same place 
where the old smuggler’s cabin stood. And some¬ 
where around there his treasure is buried, under the 
cabin, in the cracks of some of the rocks and ledges, 
or maybe some tree has grown over the place. He 
was a terrible old fellow, a sort of retired pirate, 
I guess, and Tom said that the smuggler used to 
live along the Kennebec and knew that it would be 
a good place to hide his stores and treasures. So 
he built this cabin, the old one, I mean. He would 
be gone for months and then his old boat would 
come up the Kennebec in the night when the tide 
was coming this way from the sea. And he’d drag 
old sacks full of something from the boat to the 
cabin. He was so fierce looking that everybody 
was afraid of him and if any boat was on the river 
when he came along they’d get out of the way or 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 163 


hide somewhere till he had passec}. Once some¬ 
body heard horrible groaning from his boat,—” 

“O, Jack!’’ It was getting too vivid for June. 

“One time some people with some officers went to 
see what there was in the cabin, while the old man 
was away. But they only found the bunks and some 
food and an old chest with clothes in it.” 

“Perhaps he just had food in the sacks and ate 
it up while he stayed at the cabin,” suggested prac¬ 
tical June. 

“Yes. Perhaps he wasn't a pirate. And perhaps 
he was,” said Jack. “You just listen now. This 
is what Tom told. One night in a rainstorm a boy 
that lived on a farm near the river came to shore 
in a canoe, because he couldn’t get home in the wind 
and bucking the tide. The waves were just dashing 
every way by the time he got into the Merrymeet¬ 
ing Bay, and pretty soon the canoe went plump, 
crash, bang, smash, right on the rocks near the 
cove. But of course the boy could swim and he 
kept up a minute or two, when he was carried back 
from the rocks by the water, and finally he crawled 
up on shore. It was in the days of Indians, and he 
was afraid of being found by some of them that 
were not friendly or had had too much fire-water, 
so he got among the bushes first. Then he saw a 
light in the cabin, shining through cracks, and crept 
up, real still, to see if he dared go in. There he 


164 THE GBEYCLIFF GIKLS IN CAMP 


saw the old pirate, or smuggler, whatever he was, 
taking jewelry out of the chest. It flashed and 
sparkled and the old man chuckled and chortled, as 
he ran the jewels through his fingers. They al¬ 
ways do that in stories, you know,” and Jack 
laughed. 

“This is a fine story,” said Jo, while Dot said, 
“O, I hope he didn’t kill the boy!” and snuggled 
closer to June. 

“Then the boy made a little noise, accidentally, 
stepped on a stick or something, and the old man 
whisked the things into the chest, caught up his 
gun, looked to see if his long knife was at his 
belt and ran out. The boy was so scared that he 
scrambled up on a ledge and climbed a tree, while 
the wicked old pirate hunted around, and growled 
to himself, and said, ‘Nobuddy’d better come a-spy- 
in’ on me! Nobuddy’d better come a-spyin’ on me! 
I’ll give his bones to the fishes!’ ” 

Jack told this part of the story with relish, while 
June, Jo and Dot, with the rest of the little girls, 
kept big eyes on him and in imagination sat in the 
tree with the boy of long ago. 

“Did he catch the boy?” 

“No; I guess he thought it must have been a 
bear or some other animal. He went back into his 
cabin and barred up the door, and after a while 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 165 


the boy saw the light go out. It had been shining 
through the chinks, you know.” 

“What else?” 

“Nothin’, except that the boy waited a while and 
slipped down from the tree and got away from 
there as soon as he could. He had an awful time 
getting home through the wood, afraid of meeting 
a bear, and he didn’t have his gun, of course, had 
lost his canoe and everything in it. By good luck 
he was on the mainland, and walked home. They 
used to tramp around so much and so far that I 
imagine that wasn’t much to him. We can hike a 
good distance ourselves, you know.” 

“The Indians really used to come to Merrymeet¬ 
ing, you know,” said Dot. 

“O, yes, and maybe this old smuggler or pirate 
traded with ’em. But they say that he buried a lot 
of treasure up there and that his ghost was seen 
hunting around and whispering in a hollow voice, 
'Four from the pine tree, ten from the ledge, Six 
grey stones at the water’s edge!’ ” 

“Whoever made that up,” laughed one of the 
boys, “got up a good one, for there are about a 
million pine trees more or less, and all the stones 
along the bay are grey ones, I guess, to say nothing 
of all the ledges of rock and stone along there!” 


166 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP. 


“Four from the pine tree, 

Ten from the ledge, 

Six grey stones 

At the water’s edge.” 

“I’ll remember that,” said Dot, “when we start 
digging!” 

“It’s a great yarn,” said Jack. 


CHAPTER XVII. 

A RAINY DAY AND “GOOD SPORTS”. 

“It’s been pouring all night and look at it now!” 
exclaimed Isabel in disgust. “Goodbye our hike to 
Wiscasset! I had to help get the shutters down in 
the night, I mean I insisted on helping, because I 
was awake when the storm came up. The ground 
will be soaked and we can’t have games either, can’t 
go out or swim or anything, I suppose.” 

“Why can’t we swim?—‘cause we’d get wet?’” 

Isabel laughed. “That seems to be a good one 
on me. Yes, thank fortune, we can swim if it does 
rain, though I suppose if there were a real big storm 
we wouldn’t.” 

“No, because water is a great conductor of elec- 



THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 167 


tricity. I heard Lilian and Hilary talking about 
their trip and Lilian was wondering if 'all those 
dead fish’ they saw somewhere when they were 
on the boat had been killed by lightning or what 
had killed them, and then I remember what Father 
said one time, that fishes always go to the bottom 
or hide away in a storm. I couldn’t be sure, though, 
let’s look it up some time. We haven’t had but one 
thunderstorm and that wasn’t worth mentioning.” 

“It’s too cool and nice up here for thunderstorm 
weather, I guess.” 

“This looks to me like a steady, all day pour. 
But they’ll have something for us to do, or we can 
write or read or have fun in the club house.” 

“We can put on our ponchos and rubbers and go 
out when we feel like it. I love to be out in the 
rain.” 

“Good for you, Isabel. That’s the camp spirit. 
Hurrah, nice old rainy day,—going to have lots 
of fun.” 

“The girls can work on the prize songs for one 
thing. That will come soon. I wonder who will 
make the best Merrymeeting song.” 

“Time will tell. Of course Lilian will try her 
hand at it, and maybe Cathalina.” 

An indoor field meet was announced for the usual 
time of games and duly the girls arrived at the 
dining hall, disposing of ponchos, rain coats and 


168 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


rubbers as best they could. The chairs had been 
moved back to leave a large space free for the play. 
The megaphone announced “This is the annual 
indoor field meet. Prizes are to be given to the win¬ 
ners in the different contests. These contests will 
now begin. Will the following girls take their places 
up on the floor ?” Then more fun began than the girls 
themselves could ever have thought up, so Isabel and 
Virgie concluded. For it seemed that all the funny 
contests ever staged in parlors or at picnics were 
presented in sime amusing way. From marshmal¬ 
low to hurdle races the selections were entertaining 
to both contestants and audience. The girls who 
were to take part had been selected beforehand by 
the athletic director, that little matters like age and 
size might seem appropriate to the part taken. No one 
refused to try the feat demanded, and when the 
councillors were ordered to perform, the merriment 
grew. 

One easy-going, plump little camper created some 
amusement in the “bean race”. “Hurry up,” called 
one of the older girls, “you haven’t a single one of 
your beans carried over yet and everybody else 
has!” 

“I can’t help it,” returned the little girl placidly, 
working away quietly at the pile of beans on the 
floor, “they won’t get on my knife.” 

But patience and perserverance won. Not nerv- 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 169 


ous about anything, when the beans did “get on her 
knife”, she carried them without spilling to their 
destined place and was the first to have her bean 
supply all accounted for. 

The “shot-put” was contested by girls and coun¬ 
cillors with big balloons, the line men soberly meas¬ 
uring the distances. Grins were measured. A one 
hundred-yard dash proved to be walking on a string 
(stretched from one point to another) with stepping 
off, and watching the string and one’s footsteps 
through a field glass held reversed. But the contest 
which aroused the most enthusiasm and the wildest 
excitement was one called a relay race, in which 
the choice of girls had much to do with the amuse¬ 
ment. Four on a side, they stood at opposite walls 
of the dining hall, and were numbered in order. The 
plan was simple enough, merely to open a suit-case, 
which was placed by Number One of each side, don 
the dress, hat and coat which were found inside, 
open an umbrella, and walk over to the opposite 
side. There the clothing would be returned to the 
suit-case, the umbrella closed, the quick return made 
and all handed to Number Two, who continued the 
performance. Dimple Dot, the quiet, dignified Cath- 
alina, cultured Marion, fat May and determined 
Virgie were of this company. The side through 
first would win, hence the mad scramble which 
brought tears to the eyes of the laughing girls. 


170 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


Isabel, through the megaphone, gave the same order 
which she had given for the other races, though 
perhaps not entirely appropriate here. “Ready,— 
on your mark—all set—go!” 

Cathalina threw dignity to the winds and was 
especially deft in the whole performance. Little 
Dot was almost swallowed up in the bungalow 
apron which did duty as dress, and presented a com¬ 
ical figure as she ran across the floor, stepping on 
her long draperies, lost in the big hat and coat, 
and swallowed up in the umbrella. “I guess Catha¬ 
lina and Marion never hurried like that in their 
lives before,” she gasped, as she sank on the floor 
after taking off her garb and returning it to the 
suit-case. She had won the race for her side, for 
May was not quite through. 

The line up for prizes was made a matter of much 
dignity, as pieces of candy, popcorn crisps or cook¬ 
ies were presented to the winners. Then the girls 
helped place the tables and chairs in order for the 
noon meal which was almost ready. 

In the afternoon there came more rain and heav¬ 
ier. Puddles stood in the grass. Little streams 
ran down the paths and joined in jarger ones. 
Water poured from the dining hall roof and beat 
a tattoo upon the umbrellas of the returning girls, 
for again entertainment was planned with the big 
hall as headquarters. This time the good old- 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 171 


fashioned games were used. And there were some 
little city girls that had not played “drop the hand- 
kerchief ,, ! The “farmer in the dell” was kept going 
for some time. Musical chairs was played without 
chairs, girls in a line crooking right and left arms 
alternately to be grasped when the music stopped 
by the girls who marched around them. London 
Bridge was called for, and the question asked by 
the leaders was, “Which would you rather be, the 
best swimmer in camp, or the best tennis player?” 
Girls in the line passing under the bridge wondered 
why Frances had so many behind her, till their 
turn came to hear the question. Lilian, Cathalina 
and some others took their places behind Marion in 
favor of tennis, but most of the girls desired to 
excel in swimming, and their long line easily won 
in the tug of war which followed. 

“O, look, girls, the sun!” 

While they were absorbed in the games it had 
stopped raining. The bell by the club house rang 
and the athletic director announced swimming. “In¬ 
to your bathing suits,” she cried, “and don’t forget 
to gather up your rain coats and other things to take 
with you!” 

“We’ll not get wet after all, Izzy,” said Virgie, 
teasing, as they paddled down from their klondikes 
to the shore through puddles, sand and mud. “Do 


172 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


you dare me to do a somersault and drive from the 
high board ?” 

“What is the use of daring? You’ll do it any¬ 
how if you feel like it. I am practicing on the 
'crawl’ stroke, but it is so easy to drop into the 
one you are used to using. Doesn’t Cathalina look 
sweet with that pretty cape or cloak to match her 
suit? Here’s for the rolling deep!”—with which 
Isabel threw herself from the dock into deep water, 
came up to breathe and shake the water from her 
rosy face, and made for the float, from which she 
and Virginia expected to dive. Even the girls who 
had not been swimmers were growing accustomed 
to the watery element, gaining both in confidence and 
ability. 

“The bell will ring for a boat ride at four o’clock,” 
was the announcement after the whistle blew for all 
to come out of the water. “Come now, everybody 
out! Go up and get thoroughly dry and take 
sweaters for the trip.” 

By the time the Aeolus had started with its happy 
company, a fresh breeze and bright sun were already 
drying off the walks and grass. It seemed a differ¬ 
ent world. The blue water was dancing and the 
tide favorable to their ride up Merrymeeting Bay. 
Past “Marshmallow Point”, past the swimming cove, 
past gulls posing on fishing weirs, the Aeolus glided. 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 173 


“There’s the hunters’ cabin, Hilary. See how 
it looks from the bay.” 

“Not very far from shore, June; suppose the old 
pirate sank his treasure chest with chain and 
anchor ?” 

“What if he had!” 

“Six grey stones at the water’s edge,” repeated 
Hilary in a sepulchral tone. 

“Now Hilary, don’t laugh! Honest, don’t you 
think he could have done it?” 

“How should I know?” 

“O, Hilary, I think you’re mean.” 

“Because I don’t add my imagination to yours ?” 

“Look, girls,” said Rhoda as they turned to come 
back. “There comes the Virginian. We’ll get her 
waves. Don’t you just love to go up and down?” 

“That is nothing to what we shall do in the deep 
sea fishing next week,” said Marjorie. “They say 
we go ’way out and anchor, and bob up and down 
while we pull in the monsters of the deep!” 

The Virginia saluted the Aeolus with three long 
blasts, and Aeolus not to be outdone in courtesy 
returned the salute through a long tin horn, while 
the girls called “Rah, rah, Virginianl” 


174 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


CHAPTER XVIII. 
who'll win the prize? 

“O, lil-i-an!” 

“Lilian's out on the point working on a song.” 

“Words and tune too?” 

“I don't know, very likely. She has her guitar 
with her and told us that she was not to be dis¬ 
turbed ‘on pain of death'. But she laughed when 
she said it, and if you want to see her, go and hunt 
her up.” 

“Imagine Lil's going off alone!” 

“First she and Cathalina were working on a 
Merrymeeting song, then we all got at it and evolved 
one of a sort. O, it's a rouser, mihi crede /” and 
Betty waved both hands, as if directing some Merry- 
meeting celebration. 

“What's ‘meehee craydeh'?” asked Virgie. 

“‘Believe me'; you find it in Cicero, though he 
did not use it in a slangy way, of course. At least 
I suppose not, in his famous orations. You ought 
to take Latin, Virgie. It would be lots of fun now, 
because you would have it to Patty. Dr. Carver 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 175 


wouldn’t have the beginning Latin classes last 
year, so Patty took them. We had it to Dr. Carver, 
alas. Here comes Lilian now. Did you get ‘lonse’ 
all by yourself, Lil ?” 

“Yes, and the divine afflatus wouldn’t afflate. I 
guess it works better when you’re all round. I 
thought if anything would bring the Muse it would 
be the ashes of the camp fires and the thoughts of 
the Indians that used to meet there. I just had a 
little idea, but not of a regular Merrymeeting song.” 

“Did you know that the people on some of the 
land here first got their deed, or whatever it was, 
back in 1726?” 

“My, they must be old!” 

“O, you know what I mean, their ancestors, of 
course.” 

“Yes, I’ve been inquiring about all the legends 
and stories of this place. This used to be heavily 
wooded, all over the point, and they used to come 
down and shoot bears, right where this camp is. 
Dear me, when you get into New England you are 
where things have happened!” 

“Yes, and in the West, too,” reminded loyal Vir¬ 
ginia. “We have wild Injun stories there, too, if we 
haven’t any Captain Kidd.” 

“That is what my verses are about. Captain Kidd. 
If I finish them I may hand them in, though the 
prize will be for some regular Merrymeeting song. 


176 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


in praise of Merrymeeting, you know, something 
that will go with yells and celebrations. At least 
that is what I should think would take the prize, 
what I would give it for if I were on the committee 
of councillors. But when I get something into my 
head I have to finish it, or try to.” 

“I’ll help you, Lilian,—I’ll make up all the first 
lines of the couplets and you make the second lines, 
or whatever lines have to have the rhyme.” 

“Aren’t you generous, Virgie!” 

“Who’s going to claim the prize if the song you 
all wrote together wins it?” asked Virginia!” 

“We haven’t thought that up yet,” replied Betty. 

Not long after this conversation the songs were 
called for and a meeting appointed at the club house 
to try out the songs previous to the awards by the 
committee. The songs were to be sung before the 
assembled campers, preferably by the composer, if 
not, by the young councillor in charge of the pro¬ 
ceedings. Another councillor was at the piano. 
This method was explained at the beginning. 

“There was an unusually large number of songs 
handed in this year, which is very gratifying to the 
committee, but will make the choice more difficult. 
As far as possible the author of the verses, or the 
klondike, if part or all of the girls have learned 
them, will sing them here tonight. First we shall 
have the Laugh-a-lot songs.” 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 177 


Most of these were short efforts, but raised a 
great deal of applause for the composers, though 
the term author is more appropriate, since the songs 
were set to popular or familiar tunes. One small 
author sat on a councillor’s lap and was so overcome 
when her pretty little song was sung that she turned 
her face away; and at the vociferous applause which 
followed, she quite hid her head on the protecting 
shoulder. 

One of the Intermediates in Piggly-Wiggly sang 
all alone, in a gentle voice, two pretty verses about 
river, bay, island and clouds. Helen, Eloise and 
the rest of the girls in that senior cabin gave praise 
to Merrymeeting in a rousing chorus set to Yankee 
Doodle. Lilian, Cathalina and Betty did the sing¬ 
ing for Squirrels’ Inn. Lilian had decided not to 
offer her Captain Kidd verses, declaring that there 
were too many active things to do at camp to bother 
about a “masterpiece”. Then, too, it would not 
turn out to be a real Merrymeeting song. 

After the singing of the list, a few which were 
easily recognized as the best were asked for again, 
and the committee promised as quick a decision as 
possible. As it turned out, several songs were adop¬ 
ted as Merrymeeting songs, and several prizes were 
given, one to Squirrels’ Inn included. 

June, Jo and Dot came around to ask Lilian what 
had become of the Captain Kidd song. 


178 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


“Why, where did you ever hear that I was 
writing one ?” she asked. 

“I heard you and Hilary talking about it one 
time,” replied June. 

“It isn’t much.” 

“We want to hear it any way.” 

“I’ll send it to the Moon and if they accept it you 
shall hear it read there.” 

“All right. Did you hear any more facts about 
Captain Kidd?” 

Lilian laughed. “I don’t know that I have any 
‘facts’ about him, but I find that there is a story 
about the real Captain Kidd and the Kennebec. It 
is said that he used to attack boats that came to this 
trading center, kill off everybody but one, whom he 
left to help him carry the goods to his hiding place, 
and then kill him too. Nice old pirate! And they 
say that the name ‘Merrymeeting’ applied not only 
to the five rivers beside the Kennebec that come 
into Merrymeeting Bay, but to the meeting of the 
tribes here.” 

“Then the boys’ stories were true, or at least 
some of them!” said June with satisfaction. 

“How can you be glad that such terrible things 
happened,” teased Lilian. 

“O, I wouldn’t have had ’em happen,” explained 
June carefully, “but if they did happen I want to 
know about it, and it would be great if we could 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 179 


find some treasure. Miss Patty, do you know where 
we could get something to dig with?” 

“No, June, and remember, kiddies, that you can't 
dig up the place,—it isn’t yours. And if you ever 
go to the hunters’ cabin, Hilary and some of the 
big girls must go with you.” 

“O, dear, then we can’t have any fun, I suppose, 
and if we did find anything it wouldn’t belong to us 
anyway!” 

‘Tinders keepers,” suggested Dot. 

“That wouldn’t be honest, I’m afraid,” said June. 

“That ethical point can be decided if you ever 
come across any treasure. I’m sure that you would 
be amply rewarded! Have fun thinking about it 
anyhow.” 

“S’pose we’d find some big red rubies,” suggested 
[fo. 

“And di’monds,” added Dot. 

“And pearls,” said June. “Haven’t we got the 
imaginations though? Say, Lilian, please read us 
the verses!” 

“O, all right, I had fun, too, writing out the 
story.” 

The Merrymeeting Pirate. 

In the early days when Captain Kidd 
Sailed up the Kennebec, 

He had his gold in his vessel’s hold 
And prize from many a wreck. 


180 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


When on to Merrymeeting Bay 
The river boats would glide 

In rippling cove or piney grove 
This pirate dark would hide. 

Refrain : 

O, Captain Kidd, we’re glad 
We’re glad you’re not here now! 

The goods that they had brought to trade 
With early pioneer, 

For Indian wild or settler child. 

Was soon to disappear. 

Alone he’d board the wave-washed deck, 
The crew could not resist; 

The pirate’s glare, their deep despair, 
Could feel through rain or mist! 

O, Captain Kidd, we’re glad 
We’re glad you’re not here now! 

With knife and gun and cutlass sharp, 
He’d cut and hack and shoot, 

Just saving one till set of sun. 

To help him carry loot. 

But on Brick Island, in the Bay, 

He met his well-earned fate; 

For on his track, when he came back, 
Were men that pirates hate. 

O, Captain Kidd, we’re glad; 

We’re glad you’re not here now! 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 181 


They captured him, and no one knows 
Just what those sailors did. 

With empty threat the end he met,— 

And exit Captain Kidd! 

His treasure lies somewhere about 
Beneath the wrinkled rock, 

Or in some cave where wild winds rave 
Or screaming sea-birds flock. 

O, Captain Kidd, we’ll find, 

.We’ll find your treasure-trove! 

Of coins a little box or two, 

The legend says they found. 

But would you wear his jewels rare. 

You still must search this ground. 

At if at eve his ghost you meet. 

Just follow if you dare; 

Get spade and pick, or knife and stick* 

And dig for treasure there! 

O, Captain Kid, we’ll find. 

We’ll find your treasure-trove! 

The little girls clapped their hands. “O, Lilian, 
I think that’s great!” Did he really ‘meet his fate’ 
on Brick Island?” 

“That is what the story says, that he was cap¬ 
tured there, and that they really did find some coins 
around here somewhere.” 


182 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


CHAPTER XIX. 

AT THE HUNTER'S CABIN. 

“Hurry ! Don't let the youngsters see you 
Campbell. They went out the lane a while ago 
with ‘Mother Nature' and may be back at any time. 
I think they went after flowers and will not go 
through the woods to the shore, I'm pretty sure." 

“We’ll just go right down to the pine grove, and 
if they see us we can't do it, that's all.” 

Campbell had come up before supper with several 
parents and some boys from Boothbay, and had just 
come in from canoeing with Hilary. They were 
laughing, as they walked up from the shore and 
beckoned to Cathalina, Betty and Eloise, who hap¬ 
pened to appear. While Campbell unfolded a little 
plan, they stood in a smiling group, approving the 
scheme, which developed further under the ideas 
of more conspirators. Campbell fished in his pocket 
for something which they all examined with interest. 
Cathalina thought a moment, and with one word, 
“wait", sped away toward her cabin. There she 
searched her trunk for a few minutes and flew back 
to her companions. 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 183 

“Just the thing! Don’t you want them, Catha- 
lina?” 

“No, I happened to bring them because they were 
in with the rest” 

As if strolling, the party moved toward the pine 
grove, but when they had reached its shelter their 
demeanor changed and they scurried along the trail, 
through the trees and over the rocks that lined the 
shore of Merrymeeting Bay. 

“We’ll have to be quick,” said Campbell, “before 
my party has to leave.” 

“Where shall we put it?” 

“Look; just the place!” 

“I’m afraid they’ll think it’s fishy.” 

“Let ’em; they’ll soon find out, anyhow.” 

“O, Campbell, have more imagination.” 

“They will like it in the end. Let me know how 
it comes out, girls.” 

“Indeed we will.” 

“Be sure to have them start out early tomorrow 
morning before anybody else does.” 

As they came back toward the club house, they 
saw June, Dot and Jo sitting on the steps, talking 
earnestly and mysteriously, as gestures and looks 
indicated. 

“Hello, June,” called Campbell, holding out a 
hand. “And how are Dot and Jo by this time?” 


184 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


June sprang to meet him, Dot took his other hand 
and Jo stood smiling by. 

“Where’ve you been, Mr. Stuart ?” asked Dot. 
“We looked for you after supper.” 

“Just now we've come from the pine grove and 
around the rocks,” replied Campbell, promptly and 
truthfully. “Big storm last night, girls, must have 
beat upon the rocks something fierce! I wonder if 
it opened up any of the caves where Captain Kidd’s 
treasure is!” 

“Campbell!” exclaimed Hilary, laughing. 

“We’ll go up tomorrow and see,” said Jo, enter¬ 
ing into the spirit of Campbell’s joking. “But we 
children are not allowed to play around there alone. 
I don’t see why, because there’s nobody ever there 
but camp folks.” 

“Could the big girls take you? They could get 
up early for once, couldn’t they?” 

“Why, Mr. Stuart! You know we get up as 
early as the boys do, and have a dip and everything, 
early bird hikes,—” 

“Of course you do, Jo, excuse me!” 

“We’ll prove it,” said Cathalina. “We will take 
you tomorrow morning. Be ready and we’ll stop for 
you,—we’ll whistle Campbell’s fraternity whistle.” 

“All right! Goody!” The little girls jumped up 
and down as small girls sometimes do. 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 185 


“Hunting treasure!" exclaimed Campbell. “What 
could be more thrilling ?" 

“Wear your sweaters, kiddies/' Hilary admon-i 
ished, “it will be cool." 

“What time shall we get up?" 

“About six o’clock?" 

“O, that isn’t early enough. That would only 
give us an hour or so before dip." 

“Mercy," said Eloise, “how long do you want?" 

“Could you come for us at five or five-thirty, 
before anybody is up, you know?" 

“I guess so,” said Hilary. 

Bright and early the next morning, Cathalina and 
Hilary whistled softly outside of Laugh-a-lot and 
were joined by three stealthily moving figures which 
slipped out of the klondike, permission having been 
asked the night before. 

“Isn’t this fun?" said Betty. “What if we really 
should find something?" 

Little birds disturbed in their slumbers twittered 
a little from the trees as the girls passed. Jo had 
a spade, which she had secured soon after the con¬ 
versation with Campbell. June had a trowel, and 
Dot carried a stout stick, which she had sharpened. 

“We had the awfullest time doing anything to 
get ready last night, because the girls asked what 
we were doing." 

Arrived at the cabin, the little girls peered eagerly 


186 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


around and the big girls pretended to do so. The 
hunter’s cabin itself was of no particular interest, 
because of having been explored before. They did 
not consider taking up the floor to dig or doing 
anything to injure property that belonged to other 
people. “O, don’t I wish I owned this place,” 
sighed Dot. “I’d dig and dig whenever I needed 
exercise!” 

“There’s an awfully old looking pine tree, Dot,” 
said Jo, and not far from that ledge either.” To 
the older girls great amusement, Dot brought forth 
a ruler, which they had not noticed before. 

“They are actually going to measure according 
to that silly verse,” whispered Cathalina. 

As if to explain the performance to more critical 
judgment, June said, “Now I don’t suppose that 
there is anything in that verse, but if we are going 
to dig at all we may as well have some plan.” 

“O, what’s this?” cried Jo, turning up something 
near the pine tree from which they were about to 
measure. The three little girls dropped on their 
knees as Jo pried up from the ground an old-fash¬ 
ioned brooch set with a small garnet. It was well 
packed with dirt and took some cleaning and blow¬ 
ing on Jo’s part to make it apparent what jewel it 
contained. It was, however, remarkable, consider¬ 
ing how long the pin must have been there if dropped 
by Captain Kidd, how little spoiled it was by wind 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 187 


and weather. The little girls looked soberly at each 
other and began to examine the place. 

The next find was made by Dot and was a little 
silver coin, too worn for any marks of identifica¬ 
tion to be distinguished. This time the older girls 
sat down on the ground to examine it. “See how 
crusty it is with dirt!” exclaimed June excitedly. 
She was sitting at the foot of one of the larger 
trees and lifted a little mat of pine needles where the 
curving root showed a little hollow. 

“O, look here, I feel something hard!” Slipping 
her hand down further, she fished out a queer-look¬ 
ing metal case of some sort, all battered and dingy, 
encrusted with dirt and rattling with its contents 
as June held it up. “H’m,” said she, I guess it 
looks old enough for Captain Kidd’s time, or may¬ 
be the Indians put it there, or some hunter. Beads 
or pearls, which?” 

The girls had quite a time in getting off the cover, 
which was at one end, but finally it flew off. 

“Just beads.” 

“Probably for Indians.” 

“Take ’em out and see what’s underneath.” 

“Empty the whole thing out into your lap!” 

The last bit of advice was followed, and there 
came tumbling out of the funny old long case a 
stringy little mass of beads and jewelry. This they 
began to disentangle at once. 


188 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


“Here’s a coral necklace.” 

“Look at this little gold cross with a weeny ruby, 
but one arm is broken off! Too bad.” 

A silver buckle of old style, a plain gold pin, a 
pair of long jet earrings, a delicate gold chain with 
a tiny heart on it, a small ring set with a real tur¬ 
quoise and another set with a garnet and pearls 
completed the list. June looked quizzically at Cath- 
alina. “Seems to me I’ve seen that gold chain and 
heart before. I bet you and Campbell put this box 
here last night!” 

“What makes you think so?” parried Cathalina. 

“I just do. Didn’t you wear that chain at our 
first party?” 

“How could I if it were here?” 

“O, but it wasn’t here. You dear old Catha¬ 
lina, you didn’t want us to be disappointed, did 
you?” It was like June to take it so, instead of 
feeling that the girls and Campbell wanted to make 
fun of the little girls. 

Dot and Jo were looking a bit rueful and Dot 
remarked dolefully, “Of course we can’t keep ’em, 
then,” and turned the turquoise ring about on her 
finger. 

“Of course you can keep them if you like them. 
We thought that you’d like to find something, and 
of course you can’t dig around much to spoil the 
looks of things here.” 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 189 


“Well,” said philosophical June, “of course we’d 
like to find some real Captain Kidd stuff, but after 
all, Dot, it’s better to have these pretty things than 
to dig around and not find a thing.” 

“That’s so,” replied Dot looking more cheerful. 
“Let’s divide them, if Cathalina really meant them 
for us. Why don’t you want them, Cathalina?” 

“I never wear them. O, I did put on that neck¬ 
lace once lately. I had forgotten it. Mother gave 
me quite a lot of old jewelry one day, saying that 
no one ever wore the pieces and that I might keep 
them or give them away, as I liked. I happened 
to have it with me and thought of it when Campbell 
said ‘let’s fix up something for the girls to find’. 
The turquoise ring I had when I was about Dot’s 
age, and I thought of that for her, of the garnet one 
for Jo, and of the little chain for June. But divide 
them any way you like. 

“My, you’re good to us Cathalina,” said Dot. 

The children had quite a lively time while divid¬ 
ing the “treasure”. They decided to keep it a secret 
about the digging, and asked the older girls not to 
tell. “We didn’t put that coin there, though,” said 
Hilary. 

“That’s so 1” exclaimed Dot. “We did find some¬ 
thing, then!” 


190 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


CHAPTER XX. 

AS TOLD BY BETTY. 

Dearest Polly and Juliet: 

You can't imagine how we girls enjoyed your 
combination letter in reply to the little card we 
sent,—just to tell you where we were and to let 
you know that we are thinking of you. It is fine, 
Polly, that Juliet is with you on the ranch this sum¬ 
mer. Maybe she will look like more than your 
“shadow” by the time she leaves the ranch. In 
my “mind’s eye” I see you both tearing around on 
horseback,—or is it bronco-back? 

We appreciate all the more your writing to us 
because you have been so busy with the summer’s 
work. We all went out on the rocks, Patty, too, 
and sat there eating blueberries while Cathalina read 
the letter to us. You have already received her 
letter, of course. She said that she tried to give 
you a general idea of the camp and told you about 
some of the good times we’ve had, and they have 
been going on steadily since. It would take pages 
and pages to tell about them. 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 191 

The August tournaments are on now. We have 
been playing off tennis and trying hard to have our 
team win in the other games. Since Cathalina 
wrote, we have had some fine trips, too. One was 
our second trip to Popham Beach for surf bathing. 
That was the real salt water, you know, sandy 
beach and everything. The water was cold, but 
you feel so fine, all in a glow afterwards. Those 
big waves,—I just love them. There is a place to 
buy ice-cream and other things, and we are always 
hungry, you know. We go to a house not far from* 
the beach to change to bathing suits, and after the 
swim we have a hot lunch on the shore, hot beans 
and bacon or “wieners” and sandwiches, pickles, 
cake, different good things, and my, how we eat! 
This last time it took a good while to eat our lunch 
and then we shopped a little in Bay Point, which is 
the name of the little town, and all this made us late 
starting home. It is a three hours’ ride, anyway, 
and you may imagine that we were late getting 
home, and hungry again. We had to stop at Bath 
for errands and to pick up a visitor who was com¬ 
ing up to camp, then had to “buck tide” all the way 
up. The smaller boat got in while the folks were 
eating supper, but our big boat was heavier, with 
more passengers, couldn’t get through the Burnt 
Jackets and went around the longer way. The folks 
saw us turn around and go back and were worried, 


192 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


I guess, for one of the other boats came to meet 
us, but developed engine trouble and we beat it 
home! The girls pretended to be starving, and 
went up the rise to the dining-room saying, “We 
want food! We want food!” and two or three of 
the councillors who came out to meet us answered, 
“We want our children! We want our children!” 

As we have been having good weather right 
along, it was decided to have the deep sea fishing 
trip this week, too. We go to the same beach, but 
go out to sea and fish. Last year they had rough 
weather and some of the girls had a hard time to 
stand it, after they anchored and were tossed around 
and up and down and back and forth! But this 
time it wasn’t rough at all. O, we rode some nice 
big waves, but that was fun. Our two boats caught 
forty fish. We had so much fun through it all. 
Evelyn Calvert caught the biggest fish of all and 
was so excited and even scared over it. Eloise and 
Helen are a “perfect scream” when they are to¬ 
gether, say the funniest things with the most sober 
faces, and keep us laughing half the time. We have 
met so many interesting girls up here, too, besides 
the Greycliffers. Frances Anderson is a peach and 
Marion Thurman is a dear,—but Cathalina said that 
she told you all about Squirrels’ Inn. Virgie is 
having a great time with Isabel, who keeps her down 
somewhat. Can you imagine Isabel’s keeping any- 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN GAMP 193 


body down? Virginia is all right, but after being 
bottled up so long she sometimes wants to try all 
sorts of things. I heard Isabel telling her the other 
day that she wanted to get back to school alive any¬ 
how. 

O, I must tell you about the scare we had. You 
know how noises do sound in the night. At first 
whenever a squirrel would run over the roof some¬ 
body would squeal, but we are used to that now. 
Once a mouse ran around the big room, and must 
have been scared to death, I judge, when we all 
jumped up on our cots and shrieked. Anyway we 
did not see him again. 

This time it was moonlight and we were all 
asleep, our shutters opened as usual, the big doors 
“bolted and barred”. The windows are all screened 
and rather high from the ground. Cathalina sleeps 
just across from me, and when I suddenly woke up 
that night I saw her sitting up in bed, rubbing her 
eyes and looking startled. “What was that?” she 
whispered over to me. We listened and heard the 
bushes rustle and crackle and it seemed as if a stone 
rolled down the bank. Then we imagined that some 
one was coming up the steps in front. By this time 
nearly all the girls were sitting up to listen, and 
Patty woke up too. 

“What are you all awake for, girls?” she asked. 

“Just listen,” several of us whispered, and put 


194 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 

our fingers on our lips to warn her. Just then 
came a terrible bump on the door. Marion screamed 
and ducked down in bed. Cathalina flew over to 
Lilian, whose cot is not far from hers. Patty jumped 
up as if she were shot, and went toward the door, 
putting on her bath robe, while Hilary picked up a 
baseball bat that was standing in a corner and joined 
Patty. She tried to laugh, and said, “I will pro¬ 
tect you or perish, Miss West,” but I’m sure her 
teeth were chattering. 

“Sh-sh,” said Patty. 

Next we all flew to our windows and looked out. 
They’re screened tight, so we couldn’t lean out. 
Not a thing could we see but moonlight on the 
bushes and trees. 

“Open the back door and look, girls,” said some¬ 
body. “Not on your life,” said Nora. 

“Nobody could get up there.” 

“Yes they could; they could climb!” 

“Somebody go to the club house!” 

“Yes, and get murdered on the way!” 

“I wonder if it could be a bear.” 

“No bears here now.” 

“Get your revolver, Hilary.” 

“Haven’t got any.” 

“Sh-sh. I just said that for the benefit of the 
burglar.” 

“Could it be the boys trying to scare us?” 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 195 


‘They wouldn’t do such a thing, besides they 
couldn’t get up here without being found out.” 

By this time it began to be a lark to some of us, 
and we got over being so frightened. Then there was 
a rubbing sound against the klondike. Patty was 
puzzled, we could see, but she said, “I think that it 
must be some animal, probably a loose horse. Then 
she told us to keep still so she could listen, and we all 
got scared again. Lilian whispered that she heard 
breathing, and when Nora said, “Course you do, 
it’s me,” everybody laughed. 

Patty began to get tired of our nonsense and 
said, “Girls! No burglar would try to get in here 
after all that shrieking! It is a wonder that the 
people at the club house haven’t been roused before 
this!” 

Just then somebody did run up the steps and 
knocked on the door. A most welcome voice called, 
“What’s the matter, girls?” Patty unfastened the 
door in a jiffy and there were the councillor and one 
of the girls from the nearest cabin. They had heard 
the commotion and finally decided to come over. 
Patty told them, and the girls just stood aside and 
pointed at two stray cows that by this time were 
some little distance away, over where the bushes 
grow thickly at the top of the bank. 

We all settled down then and went to sleep after 
a while, but we nearly collapsed with merriment the 


190 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


next morning going over it again,—the way the 
girls looked and what they said and how ridiculous 
it all was! One would remember one thing that 
was said and another something else, till Patty said 
that we might “use the occurrence” in a “stunt” if 
we chose. Maybe we shall, but there was another 
cow episode that was a little more wildly exciting, 
perhaps, when we were on a six point hike from 
North Bath, through the woods on the mainland op¬ 
posite. One of the girls threw some sticks as they 
passed some cows, and the cows chased them. They 
were not “dumb driven cattle,” by any means! 
Even Virgie, who is used to cows, climbed a tree, 
and we have teased Isabel nearly to death for get¬ 
ting on a big rock and asking Virgie in anguished 
tones if cows could climb rocks. Virgie said, “Yes,” 
as she was climbing the tree, and Isabel did not 
know what to do; but the cows went past. They were 
fierce looking things, had long horns. Now you 
would have lassoed a few, wouldn’t you ? 

There is so much to tell that it would take vol¬ 
umes if I tried to write it. But when we get back 
to school we can have a good old visit and tell all 
we know and some that we don’t know, as usual. 
I do hope that you both will be there. You did not 
say a word about school in your letter. However, 
the ranch doings were of more interest to us all 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 197 

just now. All the girls send heaps of love to you 
both. We hope to see you at the opening of school. 
Lovingly, 


Betty. 


198 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


CHAPTER XXI. 

A FIVE-POINT HIKE. 

“There goes the bell. Are you going, Hilary ?” 

“I don’t know, Frances. I’m awfully sleepy, and 
it is hot this afternoon.” 

“Good breeze, though.” 

“Do we get points for this hike?” 

“Five miles, five points.” 

“All right, Frances, I’ll try to get up a little 
energy and go! How about you, Lilian?” 

“Why you know I twisted my ankle a little this 
morning in games and it doesn’t feel right yet. 
I’ve been rubbing it, but I do not believe that a 
five-mile walk would help it any.” 

“O, no; you ought to rest it today. Did you see 
the nurse? No, it did not swell or anything. I 
just gave it a wrench, I guess. It will be all right.” 

“I’m not going either,” said Cathalina. “I will 
go down to the house and get you some liniment, if 
you like.” 

Marion, Frances and Hilary proved to be the 
only Squirrels’ Inn representatives on this hike, for 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 199 


Betty decided to stay with Lilian and Cathalina, 
and Nora had other plans. The three hikers donned 
their elkskin hiking shoes, took their smallest purses 
and started with the rest out the road toward First 
Trott’s. It was too early in the afternoon for much 
shade, though the narrow road wound between ferns 
and woods as ever. The sun had baked the ruts 
hard, too, and came down hot upon youthful shoul¬ 
ders. But why get points if one does not earn them 
by effort? 

“I’m going to see how soon I can walk it,” said 
one girl, striding past, though for the most part 
the girls were going in groups, some strolling, some 
walking briskly or sturdily along. 

“Goodbye, then,” said Frances, “there isn’t any 
hurry this time, with such a short hike and time to 
rest there. I’d rather take it more slowly and eat 
a few blueberries or stop in the shade occasionally, 
wouldn’t you, Hilary?” 

“Indeed I would. But I didn’t bring my field 
glasses. I thought that there would be few birds 
flying while it is so hot, and we’ll be coming home 
for supper before it cools off very much.” 

“How far is to to Second Trott’s?” asked 
Marion. 

“Opinions differ, but on our hikes it is always 
considered a five-mile hike there and back, or to 
the school-house, which is not far beyond. What 


200 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


sort of a performance, by the way, are they going 
to have there ? Do either of you know what we 
are going to do?” 

“Why, yes, Frances/’ replied Hilary. “They 
said it was a lawn fete, or something of the sort, 
and that we could buy ice cream and candy and lem¬ 
onade, maybe other things.” 

“I wonder if they will not let the boys come up, 
too,” said Marion. 

“I wouldn’t be surprised to see them,” Frances 
assented. 

Hilary had not thought of that, but her mind im¬ 
mediately visualized a certain young councillor 
whom she would be very glad to see. 

Soon they reached the turn in the road after Sec¬ 
ond Trott’s. With a gentle rise it wound around 
some fine old rocks, on whose top grew great pine 
trees. In these a little flock of chickadees was turn¬ 
ing somersaults. Further on was a bit of back¬ 
water, near which grew some water plants, and a 
line of brilliant cardinal flowers. Climbing along 
steep and dusty hill, the girls found themselves in 
sight of the white school house, known as Chopp’s. 
There, indeed, was a group of Boothbay boys, some 
just arriving as the Merrymeeting campers came up. 
They had come by a different way, upstream from 
Boothbay Camp, then docking at the mainland, on 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 201 


the opposite side of the back water, which makes a 
peninsula out of Merrymeeting. 

The first thing was to cool off a little and enjoy 
ice cream and other goodies afforded by the ladies 
who served the refreshments. Home-made cake, 
candy and nuts proved popular. The lemonade, 
alas, was all gone before the Merrymeeting girls 
arrived, but there was plently of cool water. Camp¬ 
bell was looking for Hilary, afraid that perhaps she 
was not coming, and walked to meet the girls, as 
they approached. “Where’s Cathalina?” he asked. 

“She and Betty stayed with Lilian. Lil twisted 
her ankle this morning, not much, but enough to 
keep her from any long hike. I promised to bring 
her some sweets.” 

“Well, come on, girls, before everything is gone, . 
and I’ll see that you get some ice cream and cake.” * 

Campbell beckoned to another councillor and they 
waited upon the girls, bringing the cooling water, 
which tasted so good after the hot walk, and the 
more substantial refreshments, as they could be 
waited upon. 

“O, you don’t know how good this is!” exclaimed 
Hilary. 

“Yes I do, for I thought I never was so thirsty in 
my life and we did not have much of a walk. But 
Bob and I came up in a canoe and it was hot on 
the water.” 


202 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


“I always get sunburned till I peel off, on a canoe 
trip/’ said Frances. 

“That remark is somewhat ambiguous, Frances.” 

“All right, Marion, IT1 change it. On a canoe 
trip I always get sunburned till I peel off later. My 
nose, arms and shoulders will have an entirely 
different epidermis when I return from the wilds of 
Maine. My, don’t I hate to think of it!” 

“I would,” said Hilary, “if I were not going to 
such a wonderful school. It is on the water, too, 
and while we do not have time for the good times of 
a camp, not straight along, you know, we do some 
very interesting things and I am going to try to 
get more of them in the next year. My schedule 
will not be so full, and while I want to get in all the 
studying that I can, and there are so many fine 
courses to take, I suppose it is silly not to get some 
of the different things that you never can get any¬ 
where out of school.” 

“Are you going to keep on at Greycliff instead of 
going to a regular college ?” asked Campbell. 

“I am for this year, but I am not sure about the 
next. When I started to Greycliff I expected to 
finish two years there instead of high school. But 
you know they have two years of college work, too, 
and most of our little crowd decided last year to 
return another year anyway.” 

“It isn’t such a bad idea to miss the freshman 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 203 


year at college anyhow/’ said Campbell. “It is the 
hardest year.” 

“Yes, and one will miss a lot of the hazing, but 
girls don’t make it as bad as the boys do, and I 
suppose I’ll get to be as fond of college or university 
life as I am of dear old Greycliff, though that does 
not seem possible.” 

“What sort of a school are you going to, one of 
the girls’ colleges or a co-educational school?” 

“That isn’t decided yet. It depends on what 
Father thinks about it. He and Mother are still dis¬ 
cussing it, and Mother says that Father has to de¬ 
cide the matter. I have such wonderful parents 
that I am sure what they decide will be just the 
thing.” 

By this time the other councillor from Boothbay, 
with Frances and Marion, had strolled out to where 
some games had been started, leaving Campbell and 
Hilary still talking over their ice cream. 

“I’m going West on a short trip with Uncle 
Mart at Christmas time, Hilary. Would you mind 
if I stopped off to see you, or will you be at home?” 

“Would I mind!’ ” exclaimed Hilary. “Why, 
Campbell, I’d love to have you come. No, after 
having been away nearly all summer, I shall plan 
to stay with the folks at Christmas time. And 
Father and Mother have been just aching to have 
you and Philip and some of the rest come to be 


204 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


entertained at our house,—ever since they have 
listened to my description of the Stuarts and Van 
Buskirks, and all the sisters, cousins and aunts that 
you have. We have so few near relatives.” 

Campbell was wishing that Hilary would not be 
quite so general in her expressions of interest in 
the Van Buskirks and Stuarts, but could not but be 
satisfied with the heartiness of her response to his 
suggestion of a visit at Christmas time. Hilary 
was no coquette, but it was a source of her attrac¬ 
tion, so far as Campbell was concerned, that he 
could trust her sincerity. The fact that Hilary was 
interested in real living more than many of the city 
girls whom Campbell knew was another source 
of interest to him. “Hilary talks sense,” Camp¬ 
bell had remarked to Philip. “She likes a good time 
as well as anybody, but that isn’t the main thing in 
life, as she sees it. It’s some fun to send candy or 
flowers to a girl who will really appreciate it, and 
not pat herself on the back and think ‘How sweet 
I must be to have the boys sending me flowers!’ ” 
And Philip had thought of another girl of the same 
true sort to whose winning he intended to devote 
himself. 

“Well, I’ll have it to look forward to, then,” said 
Campbell, in reply to Hilary’s cordiality. “I shall 
write to find out if it is all right when the time 
comes. You don’t mind not playing the games out 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 205 


there/’ he continued, waving his hand toward the 
boys and girls. 

“No; I much prefer this/’ acknowledged Hilary 
demurely. 

“I have a fine plan, at least it will be fine for me 
if you consent, and I came up in a canoe on purpose. 
Do you suppose you can get permission to go back 
with me?” 

“Why I believe I can.” For what were points for 
hiking to Hilary when an invitation from Campbell 
was in question? 

Patty was not there, but Hilary asked the camp 
mother if Mr. Stuart might paddle her home, and 
permission was granted. Smiling, Hilary ran back 
to Campbell, stopping a moment to tell Frances of 
her change of plan. “She asked me if you would 
upset the canoe,” Hilary reported to Campbell, as 
they started off briskly, “and I told her that you 
could do anything!” 

“That was rather a doubtful reply,” remarked 
Campbell. 

“She understood all right, but looked at me so 
soberly, just as if she were going to refuse, asked 
me if you were Cathalina’s cousin and all sorts of 
things that she knew perfectly well, just to make me 
think that perhaps I could not go, but I knew that 
she was doing it for fun.” 

“Did the girls mind your going?” 


206 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


“No. Frances was lovely, and said that she would 
tell Marion. ,, 

Hatless and brown from the sun, a typical sum¬ 
mer girl and boy, Hilary and Campbell swung along 
the way to the shore where the canoe waited. It was 
pleasant to be taken care of, Hilary thought, as 
Campbell did the launching and most of the pad¬ 
dling, and told Hilary to “fold her hands and look 
pretty”. 

“How could I!” she exclaimed with a laugh. 

“You don’t have to try,” returned Campbell with 
an approving glance. But this was the nearest ap¬ 
proach to sentiment that he made that summer. 
“Where shall we go ? Into the bay and up the An¬ 
droscoggin a little way?” 

“That will be fine,” Hilary assented. “We still 
have an hour or so, haven’t we ? We were only there 
about half an hour, I think. I didn’t wear my 
watch, though.” 

“I’ll get you home in time,” declared Campbell. 
“Let’s forget the time o’ day and just have a good 
old talk.” This they proceeded to do, but after all 
managed to arrive at Merrymeeting dock in time 
for Campbell to join the Boothbay flotilla, which 
started from the other shore for Boothbay Camp. 

“Goodbye, Campbell, I have had such a good 
time.” 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 207 


“So have I, and I hope we can have a few more 
visits before camp closes.” 

The bell was ringing for swimming, for which 
there was just time enough before supper. Hilary 
met the girls coming down to the shore as she went 
up to get her bathing suit. 

“Why from this direction ?” asked Marjorie. 
“The last I saw of you, you were eating ice cream 
at the school-house.” 

“O, I came home in an aeroplane,” joked Hilary. 

“She was paddled home,” explained Jean to Mar¬ 
jorie, as they ran past Hilary. 

Hilary found some of the girls of Squirrels’ Inn 
just getting ready for the swim, and they all went 
in together. “This,” said Frances, as they swam 
out to the float, “is the end of a perfect day for you, 
isn’t it, Hilary?” 

“I think I’ll have to acknowledge it,” said Hilary, 
turning over to float a while, “but we are going to 
work a while on our canoe after supper, aren’t we?” 

“Yes, unless something else turns up.” 

Much mystery was in the air relative to the dec¬ 
orating of canoes. Each group of girls contesting 
had one in some sequestered spot and was decking 
it for the annual canoe pageant. Prizes were to be 
given for the prettiest and for the most original idea. 
Crepe paper had been brought up in quantities and 
in all colors from Bath. Wire and string were in 


208 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


great demand. Some of the girls were working hard 
on designs and decorations. The little folks had great 
ambitions, but depended more on their councillors to 
work out ideas. The older girls could do their own 
decorating, with assistance at the last from the long- 
suffering man power of the camp; for not a tack or 
wire was to be hammered into these graceful and 
expensive canoes. 

“I know what you’re going to have,” asserted 
Virgie to June. 

“No you don’t; you just hope I’m going to tell 
you!” 

“Yes I do, I guessed.” 

“Who told you that you were right?” 

“Nobody.” 

“O, you just think that you can get me to tell you. 
Miss Virgie, but we are going to have the funniest 
and best of all, I’m sure. Just wait till tomorrow 
night!” 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 202 


CHAPTER XXII. 

THE CANOE PAGEANT. 

Lilian was trying on Eloise’s bathing suit of red 
and black, and wrapping the cloak of the same colors 
about her, she folded her arms and repeated, “Fif¬ 
teen men on a dead man’s chest!” 

“Yo! ho! ho! and a bottle of rum! Wait till I 
get on my fierce beard and mustache and you’ll see 
what a pirate can look like!” 

“What do you think of this?” asked Hilary, as she 
tried on a fiery looking turban made of silk middy 
ties. “And look at the flag Patty has made for us. 
Isn’t that a scary skull and cross-bones?” 

“Yes indeed! Patty’s a peach,—O, ‘fifteen men 
on a dead man’s chest. Yo, ho, ho!—and a bottle of 
rum!’ ” 

“Aren’t you a case, Lilian North!” exclaimed 
Cathalina, who was resting from her recent labors 
on the canoe, and lay on her cot watching the girls. 

“O, Captain Kidd, we’re glad, we’re glad you 
aren’t here now!” hummed Lilian. 

“Are you going to sing that?” asked Cathalina. 


210 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


“O, no; if I have time I’ll make up something 
like, “I’m Captain Kidd, the pirate bold, who sails 
the Kennebec,—” 

“My right arm helps ’em walk the plank,” added 
Hilary. 

“And little do I reck!”’ finished Cathalina. 

“Hurrah!” cried Lilian. “Poetry made while you 
wait by Squirrels’ Inn and company. Give me an¬ 
other verse and I’ll take my guitar, neatly concealed 
by evergreen, and make up a tune on two or three 
notes as we go.” 

“A verse is a line, Lilian.” 

“Very well, a stanza, then. O bold and true, my 
pirate crew,—” 

“And if they’re not, what then?” asked Frances. 

“Thanks, Frances, that will make the next line. 
Ah, Davy Jones will get their bones,—mm.” 

“Goodbye, ye merry men! Tra-la, another poem 
for our collection of masterpieces! Say it all, Hil¬ 
ary,” continued Cathalina. 

Hilary, “struck an attitude” and with some 
prompting, repeated their latest effort: 

“I’m Captain Kidd, the pirate bold, 

Who sails the Kennebec; 

My right arm helps ’em walk the plank 
And little do I reck! 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 211 


O, bold and true my pirate crew, 

And if they’re not, what then? 

’Tis Davy Jones will get their bones! 
Goodbye, my merry men!” 

Most of the day had been spent by the campers 
upon the canoes, and in some cases upon their own 
costumes, when these were necessary to carry out 
the idea. It had been planned to use that witching 
time when the sky was still beautiful from the sun¬ 
set and yet the blue mist of evening with moon and 
stars was just appearing in the east. It did not seem 
best to plan for lighting up the canoes. While there 
was plenty of water, it is true, to put out any blaze 
that might occur, the canoes might not be in the 
most favorable position for an upset. The most 
beautiful light was offered by Nature herself. 

The girls had worked hard. Not a canoe but was 
prettily dressed. As each one was brought from 
its hidden retreat to be launched, exclamations were 
heard on all sides. Admiration and surprise were 
mingled. It was a matter of honor not to intrude 
upon the secrecy of those engaged upon the work, 
but in some way the news about a few had leaked 
out. However, only the sight of the canoes them¬ 
selves could give the full effect. The athletic director 
and the other councillors knew the plans for the 
girls and arranged the order of launching. With 


212 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


the heavier canoes, some of which had a light frame¬ 
work wired and resting on top of the canoes, the 
girls had to have some help. All those who were 
not needed to paddle or pose stood upon the shore 
and dock as audience and judges. 

In the graceful fleet which passed the “reviewing 
stand” there was the canoe decked in ferns and 
evergreen, with a few paper birds wired to poise in 
flight above; one in yellow and white, with yellow 
roses and butterflies; another trimmed in white cot¬ 
ton, so put on as to imitate snow and ice, a diamond 
dust covering all, two long-bearded, white-garbed 
paddlers guiding the canoe, and a big white polar 
bear, sitting in the center and carrying a banner 
marked The Northland. The war canoe was given 
to some of the Juniors, who wanted to represent 
the Old Woman who lived in a Shoe, and had to 
have several children to overflow the big shoe of 
wired paper. One of the councillors in white cap 
and kerchief took the part of the Old Woman, and 
the children in quaint costumes, with ruffles of crepe 
paper, roused much enthusiasm among the specta¬ 
tors. 

This canoe won the prize for being the prettiest, 
and some of the judges wanted to award it the prize 
for the most clever idea. But that finally went to 
the three girls of Squirrels’ Inn, whose canoe was 
decked to represent a pirate ship. A furled sail 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 213 


was put up in the bow, to which the pirate flag was 
attached. Frances as Captain Kidd, with Lilian 
and Hilary in costume, repeated in hoarse voices, as 
they passed the judges, the couplet which Lilian had 
been chanting, with “Yo, ho, ho!—and a bottle of 
rum!” Then all in deep voices sang the new Captain 
Kidd stanzas to the tune of Yankee Doodle , rendered 
slowly, while Lilian twanged an accompaniment on 
the guitar. Burnt cork mustaches of fierce upward 
curve, made all this more impressive. 

As the light grew more dim, the girls in the canoe 
marked the Northland, turned on several flashlights, 
which lit up effectively the diamond dust, and those 
in the pirate ship turned on several large ones, which 
they had covered with their red paper. A few other 
lights flashed out in different canoes as they all 
circled prettily in the water and came into port 
once more. 

“There, that’s over,” said Hilary, as with the 
pirate flag over one shoulder and Lilian’s guitar 
over the other, she entered the klondike. “Patty 
will certainly have to get up our entertainment for 
stunt night. We have only about a week to get 
ready now, and with the Wiscasset hike, the canoe 
trip to Brunswick, and the White Mountain trip, I 
can’t see where we get up anything, do you 
Frances?” 

“No, I don’t. However, not all the girls will 


214 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


go on the White Mountain trip, you know. Perhaps 
we can have some little easy part to do that we 
can get quickly, or if we can think it up before we go, 
we can have it in mind, you know.” 

“There come Patty and the girls now; let’s ask 
them.” 

“O, Miss Patty, how about our having stunt 
night next week?” 

“I have been thinking about that, girls. Who has 
an idea?” 

Nobody seemed to have one. 

“They have had everything there is to have, I’m 
afraid,^’ said Lilian. 

“Well, let me relieve your minds, then,” said Pa¬ 
tricia. “I had an idea several days ago and have 
been trying to get it a little more clearly outlined.” 
At this point Cathalina gave a meaning nod to Lilian 
which Patty caught. “Yes, you think ‘the poor 
English teacher,’ don’t you?” 

“It reminded me of outlines,” Cathalina acknowl¬ 
edged. 

“We must have a meeting tomorrow and I will 
tell you just what I think we can do.” 

At the morrow’s meeting the girls enthusiastically 
approved Miss West’s idea, applauded the produc¬ 
tions already in hand and thanked her warmly for 
taking the responsibility. It was, to be sure, hers 
as councillor to see that the girls had some sort 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 215 


of entertainment ready for their turn at stunt night, 
but these girls, as good campers, were always willing 
to do their share and had no desire to take advan¬ 
tage of their young councillor. Some of the parts 
were given out and the girls began to learn them. 
They considered it pure fun, for there was re¬ 
quired no serious preparation. 

The canoe trip to Brunswick was next on the 
list of trips. The canoes, stripped of their decora¬ 
tions, bore the jolly campers away, around Marsh¬ 
mallow Point into Merrymeeting Bay, to the left, 
past Brick Island of Captain Kidd fame, and on up 
the Androscoggin river, the war canoe in the lead. 
So many wanted to go that each of the smaller 
canoes bore three. Some of the little girls who 
could not paddle were among those who sat more or 
less comfortably on life preservers in the middle. 
Or it would be one of the older girls who took the 
middle position, to change places with some tired 
paddler in bow or stern as need might be. The girls 
were reminded of the rules that no one was to change 
places in midstream. They must paddle to shore 
and make the adjustment. Lunch was distributed 
among the canoes, for the launches could not go up 
the shallow Androscoggin. 

Hilary and Lilian took June with them. Frances, 
Betty and Cathalina were together. Neither Betty 
nor Cathalina had as much endurance as Frances, 


216 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


but they thought that by changing occasionally, all 
would be able to make the eight or ten-mile paddle 
with ease. Eloise, Helen and Isabel were together 
and rather evenly matched in paddling ability, as 
were Marion, Jean and Nora. Patty, with another 
councillor, carried some of the heavier packages or 
cans of lunch in their canoe. 

“Hard luck, Miss West/' called Isabel; “what 
you have in the middle of your canoe can’t change 
places and help you paddle.” 

“Some of it will help me paddle coming back,” 
answered Patty, pointing to the milk can and pack¬ 
age of sandwiches. “And Mr. Clark has gone on 
ahead to see about getting corn for us to roast.” 

“O, joy!” exclaimed Isabel, “corn and bacon! 
I saw them putting in the bacon.” 

“Do we wait till we get to Brunswick before we 
have lunch?” asked Eloise. “Patty spoke as if we 
would.” 

“No, I don’t think so,” said Isabel. “We build a 
fire somewhere along the river, I think.” 

“I don’t see the war canoe. I wonder which side 
of this big island we take.” 

“I believe the one to the left is the way,” and 
Isabel pointed out a few imaginary indications that 
the war canoe had taken that course. But it turned 
out that while their canoe had no trouble in getting 
through, this channel would have been too shallow 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 217 


for the war canoe. It had gone to the right. There 
were many sand bars in the river, but the paddling 
was easy. There was no wind and the water was 
calm, like a mirror reflecting the rocks and dark 
green trees of the shore, while the dark blue canoes 
came stealing up on the grassy surface to add to 
the beauty of the scene. Not even the most prac¬ 
tical girl, her mind chiefly upon getting to the des¬ 
tination, eating lunch and getting points for pad¬ 
dling, could fail to be impressed by it. 

“Shall we go to see Bowdoin College ?” inquired 
Helen. 

“In this rig ?” 

“Excuse the question, Eloise; I forgot our picnic 
garb. I remember the girls said that they usually 
go by trolley from Bath.” 

It must be admitted that a substantial lunch adds 
much to the joy of such picnics. This one was 
especially good. The corn was boiled in a big kettle, 
which was borrowed or hired for the occasion. Such 
perfect and tender ears they were. Boiling was 
substituted for roasting and saved much time, a sec¬ 
ond lot of ears going in the pot as soon as the first 
came out. Potato salad and pickles, all the sand¬ 
wiches one could eat, cake, ripe pears and all the 
milk one could drink,—what more could they ask? 
Yet still came marshmallows, passed around to be 
toasted over the embers. 


218 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 

“We’ll start home early, girls,” announced the 
young director of athletics. “Then we can take our 
time, change often if we get tired, and everything 
will be in our favor, no wind, and tide and current 
in the right direction. I believe we could almost 
float home!” 

It was not quite like floating, however, and the 
girls earned their points for paddling. But without 
trouble they all reached camp in good season, and in 
good humor to think that they had carried through 
a twenty-mile paddle. 

“How much do you think I paddled, Frances?” 
asked Cathalina, as they put away their paddles. 

“O, you must have paddled half the way, in rest¬ 
ing either Betty or me.” 

“Scarcely that, I’m afraid. You paddled too long 
several times and wouldn’t let me take it, you know. 
You were afraid I’d get too tired.” 

“Not at all. Wanted the points.” 

“Never mind, I know you. You would take 
stern most of the way, too.” 

“I wish you were coming to Greycliff next year, 
Frances,” said Betty. “How you would fit in with 
our crowd. You would love Polly and Juliet, and 
how proud we’d be of you!” 

“That is awfully dear of you, Betty. For ‘half 
a cent’ I’d come. But I don’t think I can.” 

“Think about it, anyhow,” Betty insisted. 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 219 


CHAPTER XXIII. 

^STUNT NIGHT” WITH SQUIRRELS* INN. 

Several things had conspired to put off the White 
Mountain and Wiscasset trips, till within about ten 
days of the close of camp. The first was a three 
days* jaunt, when the girls were taken first by boat, 
then by truck, with their packs, to the foot of Mt. 
Washington, which they were to climb. The second 
led to historic little Wiscasset, part of the way by 
boat, the rest a hike, except for the little girls who 
were taken all the way by launch. The night was 
spent under the stars near the old block house, meals 
were carried in the launches, and the return the 
next day was on the same plan, partly by boat, 
partly on foot. 

Patty despaired of having any practice for the 
Squirrels* Inn “stunt”, but concluded that inasmuch 
as they were not attempting any formal perform¬ 
ance before a critical audience, one or two hasty 
rehearsals of the program as a whole in the club 
room would do. Only Frances and Hilary were 
going to Mt. Washington, but the other girls all 
went to Wiscasset. 


220 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 

At last the fateful night arrived, stage property 
was quickly collected, each girl having her own pe¬ 
culiar accoutrement to gather, and Miss Patricia 
was on hand with the program in full, ready to 
prompt or to take part with the performers. At 
the piano was a musical councillor, who was to 
play the accompaniments, and Eloise, who had been 
ill when her own klondike had their evening, had 
been asked to help with the singing. That it was 
a musical program might be taken for granted by 
any who knew Miss West’s tastes and her chief 
avocation. But it is not to be supposed that she 
would undertake any classical performance as a 
“stunt”. The music consisted of the popular airs; 
the songs were little verses illustrating Merrymeet¬ 
ing activities, all bound together by one central 
idea. 

That announcement of the numbers might be 
avoided, the girls had prepared small programs 
written on ordinary yellow tablet paper, cut and 
folded. The audience upon the floor of the club 
room read upon the outside: 

Squirrels’ Inn 
Presents 

The Merrymeeting Follies 
of 19— 

Monday Evening, August — 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 221 


Inside they found the program in order, and 
tongues were busy as they looked it through. 

“O, I wonder what that is. Do you suppose that 
the doctor will really be in it?” 

“Look at this: ‘Bird Hike.Bird, Mother 

Nature and Chorus’. Birdie, are you going to take 
part?” 

“Of course not,” replied the nature lady, settling 
back in her little rocking chair. “But I lent them 
my rubber boots and hat.” 

“I wonder,” said Betty behind the curtain, “if 
they will take it in about the head band.” 

“Of course they will,” said Frances, who was 
just adjusting hers across her forhead. “The head- 
band—the connecting link which has a symbol for 
all the things we do!” This with the explanatory 
gesture of an orator. 

“There will be some funny symbols put up to¬ 
night,” said Betty, tossing up a volley ball. 

“I guess so. Imagine a pickle jar on our head 
bands! Dear me, I hope I don’t forget my songs.” 

“You haven’t had much time to learn them. Have 
you gotten over the effects of mountain climbing?” 

“O, yes; there weren’t any, except my tired feet.” 

“Everybody here and ready?” asked Miss Pa¬ 
tricia, looking last to see if Isabel and Virgie, who 
were to manage the curtains, were in place. 

At her signal, they drew aside the curtains, re- 



222 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


vealingthe eight girls—Frances, Marion, Nora, Hil¬ 
ary, Lilian, Betty, Cathalina and Eloise, who were 
dressed in full camp costume, including head bands, 
arm bands, and diamonds on the sweaters, and car¬ 
ried each some emblem of Merrymeeting activities, 
from volley ball and paddle to the silver cup marked 
Merrymeeting Trophy. 

After a chord from the accompanist, the girls sang 
to a popular ragtime tune the “Opening Chorus ,, of 
the program: 

“Just a head -band, 

Golden and Blue; 

Athletic emblems 

Of what we can do— 

Swimming, baseball, tennis, paddling, basketball. 
Volley, hiking,—at our camp we do them all. 

But these symbols 
Don’t represent you; 

There are other things 
That you do, 

And if you will watch our little show tonight. 
Well give you a head band that’ll be right.” 

The curtains were drawn together in the midst of 
the applause which welcomed the first appearance, 
but in a few moments were again parted and drawn 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 223 

aside. The audience for a second expected an en¬ 
core or a new number, then saw the point as June 
shouted, “O, there’s the head band!” For across 
the stage at a convenient height and pinned upon 
the wall was an immense dark-blue “head band”, 
upon which had just been placed the customary 
M C with a small pine tree on each side. The golden 
symbols, like the program, were cut from yellow 
tablet paper. 

“I get it,” said Jo. “They’re making a head band 
with our Tollies’.” 

The first activity to be perpetuated in song was 
the “Marshmallow Roast” of the program. When 
the curtains were drawn, they disclosed in the fore¬ 
ground a camp fire made of sticks, in the center of 
which glowed a lighted lantern covered with red 
paper. Close to this sat the “marshmallow”, cov¬ 
ered with white and occasionally shaking a white 
powder from the drapery, by which she was con¬ 
cealed. Frances stood back of her holding the stick 
on which she was supposed to be impaled. The 
tune was “Old Black Joe”. 

“Marshmallow plump, 

With sugar powdered o’er; 

Marshmallow white, 

They wish they had some more; 


224 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


Marshmallow brown, 

As down their throats I go,— 

I hear Camp Merrymeeting calling 
‘Marshmallow !’ 
chorus : 

Marshmallow, marshmallow, 

I’m used for every roast; 

I hear Camp Merrymeeting calling, 

‘Toast! Toast! Toast!’” 

Curtain. Curtains apart again. A fat marsh¬ 
mallow on the head band, next to one of the pine 
trees. 

“This next ought to be funny,” said Dot, who 
was in the front row. “ ‘Deep Sea Fishing, (a) 
Fish Chorus, (b) Fishermen’s Chorus.’ How can 
they fix up fish ?” 

“They don’t have to much,” answered June. “We 
are supposed to use our imagination. Hilary says 
that they didn’t use to have all the stage fixings that 
they think they have to now.” 

“Sh-sh, here they are!” 

Four girls in Merrymeeting costume sat upon the 
edge of the big table under the head band. With 
sticks and lines they were fishing. In front of them, 
facing the audience, but lying upon the floor in 
swimming position, were four “fish”, just the girls, 
in customary garb, without any attempt at a fish 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


225 


costume. To the lively tune of Jingle Bells, and 
with the movements appropriate to swimming and 
“flapping” of fins, they sang the following ditty: 

“We are fishes gay, 

Swimming every day, 

In the ocean blue, 

Just see what we can do! 

We dart and dance about. 

Each minnow and each trout; 

We glisten and we gleam, 

As we sidestroke down stream. 

CHORUS: 

Flap your fins! Flap your fins, 

Fishies in the sea, 

Oh what fun to splash and dive 
And swim so gay and free! 

Flap your fins! Flap your fins, 

Fishies in the sea, 

O, who would not a fishie be 
In the bottom of the sea!” 

At this, the fishers started a rolicking chorus 
with waving lines: 

“We’re deep-sea fishers, 

Watch us fish! 

We ride out over the ocean 
Where-e’re we wish. 


226 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


We don’t have to wait for the fish to bite, 

They jump on the hooks when we heave in sight,—• 
We’re deep-sea fishers. 

Watch us fish!” 

At the appropriate time the fishes turned and 
caught the lines, then rose as the fishers jumped 
down from the table, and all danced around in a 
circle, while the accompanist played the tune through 
once, finishing it as the last fish or fisher disap¬ 
peared through the door in the midst of most en¬ 
thusiastic applause, especially from those who had 
memories of the deep-sea fishing trip. 

The Bird Hike was introduced by a solo from 
the bird, the burden of whose refrain was: 

“Come along, there’s a bird hike here today; 

Get you ready, there’s a bird hike here today; 

I know them by their graceful walk, 

There’s a bird hike here today. 

I’m a poor old fowl, but I’ll fool ’em yet,” etc. 

Hilary was the “bird”, and sat on the corner of 
that most convenient table, when—enter Mother Na¬ 
ture and Girls. “Clementine” was the tune in which 
the following musical conversation occurred: 

girls— 

Mother Nature, Mother Nature, 

Shall we see some birds today? 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 227 

MOTHER NATURE (ELOISE)- 

Very likely, very likely, 

If only quiet you will stay. 
girls— 

Mother Nature, Mother Nature, 

Here’s a rock where we may sit. 

MOTHER NATURE- 

Yes, sit down and all be quiet. 

While we wait for birds to flit. 
girls— 

Mother Nature, Mother Nature, 

What’s that bird upon the limb? 

MOTHER NATURE- 

Steady now, give me the glasses. 

While I take a look at him. 

Eloise as Mother Nature, in the well known hat 
pulled down over her face, the scarlet blouse of the 
nature lady and the rubber boots which had given 
her the title of Puss in Boots, was hailed with wild 
applause and shrieks of delight from the audience. 
The nature lady herself leaned back in her chair 
to laugh at this clever representation. In a sweet 
contralto, Eloise sang her comments on the bird 
while she gazed through the glasses: 

“Dear little bird in the bushes, 

Under the old pine tree, 


228 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


Singing alone, 

In a sweetly cheerful tone. 

Perching in the air(!) 

Flying everywhere! 

Notice the marks on his wings, girls; 

Look at the stripe on his knee; 

I’m sure this pretty bird 

Will be the rarest thing we’ve heard 

What kind of a bird, girls. 

Can that bird be?” 

The girls now took up the air, repeating the same 
song with Eloise, and assuming attitudes of delight 
when the Bird began to sing. But how their ex¬ 
pressions changed as he announced that as only a 
Plymouth Rock rooster “cock-a-doodle-doo” was all 
that he could sing, “when I flap my wing, scaring 
everything”. And while he would like to be an 
“eagle” or a “flycatcher”, it was merely as a 
“scratcher” that he could claim their interest. 
Curtain. 

The “Merrymeeting Moon”, which came next, 
was entirely different from anything which had 
been given. Lilian, who represented the chief editor, 
Maribelle Hartley, was prettily dressed in a real 
party frock, filmy and beautiful, wore silver slippers 
and carried a round moon.” This was a round circle 
of cardboard, cut out in the center to leave only a 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 229 


wide rim and covered with silvered paper. Grace 
and gestures with this moon and a few steps here 
and there to show the silver slippers accompanied a 
very pretty song written to one of the more elab¬ 
orate ragtime tunes. 

“Merrymeeting needs your gleaming, just to keep 
us all a-beaming,” sang Lilian, addressing the silver 
moon which she was holding above her head; and 
at the close of the song she stood with her face 
framed within the rim while singing: 

“Can’t you all tell 
That I’m Maribelle, 

I’m the Man in the Moon, you see.” 

The audience was scarcely satisfied with one rep¬ 
etition of this, but time was pressing and the pro¬ 
gram had to go on. By this time a fish, a bird and 
a moon had been added to the symbols on the head 
band. 

The girls enjoyed taking off the camp doctor in 
the next act, called on the program, The Infirmary, 
Doctor—and Gargling Girls. There had been some 
mild cases of tonsilitis, immediately isolated in the 
“Infirmary”, where, with skull and cross-bones, the 
girls had announced the “Leper Colony” on a clever 
sign, and bewailed their isolation. This was all 
portrayed in the sketch. First the girls appeared. 


230 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


wrapped in long bath robes and singing pathetically 
about the “tonsils’ retreat” and the “little cots, 
whose owners have spots,— 

And the doctor’s job, 

Their throats to swab. 

Can’t be beat!” 

Their temperature was “torrid” and the gargle 
“horrid”. Then came the doctor, who looked at 
their throats with the aid of an immense kitchen 
spoon, and sang with great enjoyment a solo to the 
effect that he had waited long to catch them, but 
had them fast quarantined now. Giving each a 
spoonful from a large bottle, he stood before them 
like an orchestra leader, and beat time with the 
spoon, while in throaty tones to the tune of John 
Brown’s Body the girls sang, “Gargle, gargle, gar¬ 
gle, gargle,” etc., and falling into a procession be¬ 
hind the doctor, filed out. This proved so popular 
that the “doctor” was forced to repeat his solo and 
lead again the chorus of gargling girls. Frances, 
of course, as the tallest of the girls, impersonated 
the doctor and tried to imitate his step and move¬ 
ments. This time the curtains parted to show a 
spoon on the head band. 

“What do you suppose the next will be?” asked 
Jean in the audience. 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 231 


“It says “Pickles”, replied Rhoda, “but who 
knows how they’ll do it?” 

“Pickles 

(a) Onion 

(b) Cauliflower 

(c) Quartered pickle,” read the program. 
When Isabel and Virgie drew the curtains, Betty, 

Cathalina and Nora stood there decked in green 
crepe paper, Betty’s costume having yellow trim¬ 
mings. At once Betty, to the tune of “Reuben, 
Reuben” began the song of the pickled onion: 

“Picnic pickles you’ve been eating. 

All the pickles you could get, 

I should think you’d hate to think of 
All the pickles you have ‘et’,— 

H ’m-te-dum-tum, 

H’m-tum-dum!” 

(Turning around quickly) 1 

“Here behold the pickled onion 
Round and sweet as I can be. 

Where’ll you find another onion 
Anywhere to equal me? 

H’m-te-dum-tum,” etc. 

Nora now took up the song: 

“My name’s pickled cauliflower. 

I’m as crisp as I can be; 


232 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 

Where’ll you find another cauliflower 
Anywhere to equal me?” Refr. 

Cathalina’s inquiry was similar: 

“Once I was a full-sized pickle. 

But they came and quartered me; 

Where’ll you find a quartered pickle 
Anywhere to equal me?” Refr. 

At this point the Picnic Pickles joined hands 
above their heads and circled the stage singing: 

“Three sweet pickles in the barrel, 

Picnic pickles can’t be beat; 

Merrymeeting girls all love us, 

Eat and smile and smile and eat!” 

“Merrymeeting Music” not unkindly took off sev¬ 
eral of the girls in camp, among them one of the 
chief “yell-leaders”, and Rhoda, whose really beau¬ 
tiful piano playing the girls had so much enjoyed 
all through the weeks of camp. Marion represented 
her and sang; to “Boola, Boola”: 

“I am Rhoda 
I can play 
Brahms and Chopin 
Any day. 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN GAMP 233 


If you listen 
Til start you off 
On the Prelude 
Of Rachmaninoff.” 

Lilian, with her guitar, and Eloise with ukelele, 
sat upon the floor to sing two or three of the camp 
favorites and represented the “J azz ” of the pro¬ 
gram. 

Musical notes now appeared upon the head band 
next to the pickle jar, and the audience again con¬ 
sulted their programs. “Whiskaway” was to ap¬ 
pear. 

Betty was slim and had made a remarkable though 
simple costume of black, covering her arms with long 
black stockings and padding out with cotton a 
muslin mask to imitate the muzzle of a dog. The 
rest of the face had a comical expression, and the 
corners of the big square of muslin had been tied 
into ears. A gentle old dog sometimes wandered 
into camp from a neighboring farm, although dogs 
were forbidden, and had been dubbed “Whiskaway” 
by the girls. 

Down on her knees Betty moved about, causing 
much amusement among the little girls in front by 
the waving of her paws and the swinging of the 
doggy nose, which was not very well fastened at 


234 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


the lower part. At the last Betty assumed a beg¬ 
ging attitude, her stocking-covered hands hanging 
limply over, with such effect that this tableau and 
chorus had to be repeated: 

“When a cold nose gives you a fright, 

That’s dear Whiskaway; 

When a footstep sounds in the night, 

That’s poor Wiskaway! 

I love to sleep in the softest bed,— 

I don’t care whether it’s the foot or the head. 

I don’t mean to scare you, 

But only prepare you 

For poor, dear Whiskaway!” 

The ensemble chorus gave the new Merrymeeting 
song which had won the prize. In this and the camp 
yell with which the performance closed the audience 
could not help joining, and went away to sing these 
masterpieces of poesy and song for the rest of the 
week. 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 235 


CHAPTER XXIV. 

THOSE CAMPING DAYS. 

“Isn’t this the most exciting week?” queried 
Isabel. 

“It is indeed,” replied Cathalina, who was feeling 
disappointed over tennis results in the August tour¬ 
nament, provoked at herself for one or two bad 
plays she had made, yet glad for Lilian that she had 
won the tournament again. The girls had just fin¬ 
ished the final baseball game and both teams, with a 
few spectators, had strolled off to rest under the 
trees. A cool breeze blew from the water which 
sparkled and foamed over the rocks. 

“Tournaments to be finished, the last points you 
can possibly get in anything to be made, swimming 
match tomorrow, boys’ minstrel show next day, 
then the last hike, the big banquet and prizes and 
everything on Friday, and on Saturday the last 
senior lodge play! This hectic life of pleasure has 
spoiled me for school!” 

“Nonsense, Isabel. We’ll feel all the more like 
it,” said Lilian. 


236 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


“There are those who love to study, I’m told,” 
said Isabel, who was feeling anything but intellec¬ 
tual that morning, “but the only reason that I do 
it is that I’m ashamed to be ignorant!” 

“You are certainly frank about it,” Eloise re¬ 
marked with a quizzical smile. 

“Then if you don’t study,” continued Isabel, 
saucily addressing Eloise, “you can’t enjoy the real 
fun, because of what hangs over your head in the 
way of cuts, lessons to be made up, letters home 
from the faculty, and term work to be repeated be¬ 
cause of failures.” 

“To hear you talk, anybody would think that you 
are one of those who are always on the ragged edge,” 
reproved Betty. “Frances, Isabel is one of the best 
in her classes at Greycliff.” 

“Thanks, Betty, for your kind tribute, but I have 
learned by observation,” said Isabel loftily, “and 
profited by seeing the awful times the idlers have. 
They have to pay the bill some time, and that’s the 
only reason I work.” 

“Isabel is just thinking with her tongue about her 
reasons for work,” said Virginia. 

“Lots of people do that,” acknowledged Isabel, 
laughing. 

“Unfortunately true,”—and Eloise gave Isabel a 
gentle push till she fell over on the grass by Catha- 
lina, who was lying at full length. 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 237 


“Don't you wish you knew," continued Eloise, 
“what they’re going to do at the banquet—and how 
the dining-room will be decorated,—and what the 
eats will be,—-and how the councillors will dress up, 
—and who will get the prizes?" 

“I wouldn’t miss the banquet for worlds!" cried 
Betty. “The girls all say that it is always wonderful 
and so exciting and thrilling about the prizes. Why, 
sometimes the girls have the tears just streaming 
down their cheeks, but root nobly for the one who 
took the prize away from them!" 

“I don’t believe that I could do that," said Vir¬ 
ginia. 

“O, you’d be ashamed not to be glad for the other 
girl, wouldn’t you?" 

“It would just depend on who she was and how 
she took it," said Virgie with decision. “If she 
were airy and smarty, I wouldn’t like it." 

“N-no, but*anybody’d be ashamed to be that way 
up here, or a least to show it. There is too much 
camp spirit among us." 

Cathalina slipped her hand into Lilian’s and they 
exchanged an affectionate look, which Hilary did 
not miss, and she patted Cathalina’s shoulder ap¬ 
provingly. 

“I’m sorry for the girls that are leaving early," 
Virgie continued. “Two or three are going tomor- 


238 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


row. It's a good thing that the games are about 
over,—we’d have so few on our team. ,, 

“What do we do next week, Frances?” asked 
Helen. 

“Chiefly get ready to leave. It will take us all 
day Monday to pack.” 

“How could it?” 

“I don’t mean every minute, but there will be 
things to fix and hunt up. We can have some good 
times in between at the club house, and play tennis 
or anything we want to, you know, but we leave 
Tuesday afternoon, and by Wednesday hardly any¬ 
body will be at camp.” 

“Doesn’t it make you sick to think about it ? May¬ 
be I’ll never be able to come back here!” Helen’s 
eyes looked misty. 

“We mustn’t think about it,” said Isabel. “Cheer 
up. Suppose you could never go home and see your 
folks.” 

“Listen to the practical Isabel,” laughed Lilian. 
“That’s right, Isabel; always look forward to the 
next nice thing that you’re going to do!” 

“By the way, girls,” said Isabel, “the last Moon 
will be read Sunday, and I promised to see every¬ 
body and ask for a contribution. Every one of 
you can hand in a personal or some little paragraph 
about something that has happened in your klon- 
dike. I’m coming around Saturday and if you 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 239 


haven't writen anything I’m going to sit down and 
wait till you do. No promises go!” 

“Might as well do it, girls,” said Eloise. “When 
the energetic Isabel has a duty to perform, it is a 
case of ‘do it nouf . O, dear, what fun we have 
had!” 

“Are having, going to have,” insisted Isabel. 
“Don’t start any mourning, anybody. We’ll prob¬ 
ably have enough of waterworks at the end, and I, 
for one, don’t want to begin now.” 

“You funny, nice, dear old Isabel,” said Catha- 
lina, reaching a hand over to rumple Isabel’s curly 
head. 

Rapidly passed these last day of camp. The last 
games of the August tournament were played. Re¬ 
ports of attainment and points earned were handed 
in by the director of athletics, the swimming in¬ 
structor and other councillors. Excitement more or 
less suppressed spread among the girls as they con¬ 
sulted with each other about whom to choose and 
vote for in regard to the prize cups. From so many 
bright, helpful and popular girls, who should be 
chosen as the best camper among the seniors, the 
intermediates and the juniors? The girls were 
warned against “campaigning” for their favorites. 
In this, points did not count, except as indicating 
an interest in the activities. The best “all-around 
camper” would not necessarily be the one who was 


240 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


first in any particular activity. Former years in 
camp, giving what we might call “cumulative” help¬ 
fulness and loyalty, counted also. 

The annual “minstrels” at the boys’ camp was 
one of the great events. Gay boat-loads of girls 
on that happy night went down to Boothbay Camp, 
gave enthusiastic support and applause to the enter¬ 
tainment furnished by the boys, enjoyed every fea¬ 
ture, and joined heartily in the singing of popular or 
camp songs while the curtains were drawn between 
“acts.” By lantern and flashlight they again filled 
the boats for the unusual experience of a ride home 
on the river after dark. A big flashlight served oc¬ 
casionally as search light, but the pilot knew his 
river even without a moon. 

Mysterious indeed were the doings of councillors 
on the fateful Friday. All girls were forbidden the 
dining-room after breakfast, except a few who were 
asked to help bring down the “greenery” from the 
woods. These had a peep at the unfinished decora¬ 
tions. There was to be a picnic lunch at noon, to 
leave the dining-room free for the elaborate decorat¬ 
ing, and it was even a mystery where the lunch was 
to be. In the arts and crafts room councillors were 
working on the last menu cards, which were being 
painted and lettered, and occasionally a few girls 
would invent some “necessary” errands, which 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 241 


would take them through the room into Laugh-a-lot. 
But furtive glances only increased interest. 

“I saw the cap the camp mother was making/' 
said one. “My, it was pretty. There was a little 
crinkled yellow ruffle on the edge of black crepe 
paper." 

“Then that’s the color scheme! I suppose they'll 
wear caps and aprons,—they did last year." 

“Yes, but it’s never the same, so you can’t tell/* 

When the bell rang for lunch, all who had to go 
to the club house for information were directed to 
the pine grove. But before this, many of the girls 
had noticed the people who were trailing in that 
direction with utensils and eatables. The big kettle 
of hot beans and some other supplies were taken 
in the convenient and familiar wheelbarrow. 

On the rocks at the right of the cove the fire 
was made and long, fat “wienies" were being cooked 
in a big pan, which was supported on the edge of the 
fire by two large chunks of wood. 

“O, the beautiful, beautiful pine-grove!’’ exclaimed 
Cathalina, as she took her place behind Hilary in the 
line, which had been halted by the smiling head 
councillor some little distance from the fire till the 
signal should be given that all was ready. 

“If I come back next summer. I'm going to bring 
my paints and everything," she continued. “I’ve 
made some sketches, but I want to get the blue of 


242 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


the blueberries with the dew on them, and some 
of the sunsets are so gorgeous,—or so delicate. I 
saw the most peculiar effect one night when we were 
starting a camp fire on Marshmallow Point for a 
marshmallow roast. There were heavy brown-gray 
clouds and just one streak where the sun was trying 
to shine through, and the queerest color to the water. 
I thought of the old poem where “the dark Pluto¬ 
nian shadows gather on the evening blast.” 

“Look at this little vine with the scarlet berries, 1 ” 
said Hilary, stooping to gather a bit that was trail¬ 
ing along the ground. “Has this been taken in to 
Mother Nature yet?” 

“I think so, and there is another kind on the 
ground not far from where the fire is. Yesterday 
I found the oddest little flower growing right out of 
the rock in the cove. The flower was almost ex¬ 
actly like the common little fall aster, purple of a 
sort, but the plant was a single stalk and looked like 
an evergreen, made you think of balsam. I’m going 
to ask Mother Nature what it is. I picked it.” 

“Hurrah, here we go!” said Hilary, weaving the 
bit of vine in one of her braids as the line started. 

A pasteboard plate received the necessary silver, 
hot beans spooned out of the kettle by one coun¬ 
cillor, two or three “wieners” forked out by the pre¬ 
siding masculine genius of the fire, the bread and 
butter for the sandwiches, mustard if one wanted 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 243 


it, the good “picnic pickles” and a sanitary cup for 
either water or milk. Dessert was to come later, 
delicious watermelons, not brought down the hill, 
but served nearer the entrance to the pine grove. 

Evening came at last. Camp garb was laid aside 
for the pretty summer dresses appropriate to the 
occasion. The girls thought that the bell would 
never ring. The finishing touches seemed to take 
the councillors forever! But at last the big bell 
clanged out its invitation, and the girls came hurry¬ 
ing down the hill. 

The dining-room looked almost like a bit of the 
pine grove, for the rafters were covered by the green 
branches of the whole trees that had been brought 
to deck the place, and stood around the supporting 
pillars and at the sides of the room. White pine, bal¬ 
sam and arbor vitae filled the dinning hall with spicy 
odor. And if any were shocked at the cutting of 
these big “Christmas trees”, they might have been 
told that they were carefully selected where thin¬ 
ning was necessary and where the trees would never 
have reached a perfect maturity when all had grown 
larger. 

“O, isn’t it a dream!” exclaimed Lilian, as she 
found the place card with her name on it at the same 
table with Cathalina, Hilary, Betty and Eloise. 
“Look at these darling menu cards!” 

“And read it,” said Hilary. “They’re too funny. 


244 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 

Let’s see if we can make out what the different 
things really are.” 

“What do you suppose 'Brunswick Special’ is?” 
wondered Cathalina. 

“Maybe our pickles,” said Eloise. 'No, it isn’t 
in the right place,—O, I know, corn!” 

“And the 'Young Fried Flappers’ are the fried 
chickens, of course, and Charlotte Young’s name.” 

“Here’s 'Piggly Wiggly’, now what can that be ?” 

“Look at the place on the menu; O, that's the 
jelly, to be sure.” 

“ ‘Truant’s Delight’ must be the ice-cream, and 
Virginia sauce must be something we have over it 
and called in honor of Virgiel” 

Just before the courses were served, the coun¬ 
cillors in a long line, with their giddy postage stamp 
caps and ruffled aprons, sang a brief song beginning, 
“O, we are the councillors gay, tra-la,” and were 
greeted with the hearty applause of appreciation and 
given, both collectively and individually, the “rah- 
rahs” of Merrymeeting. But ah, those plates of 
fried chicken, mashed potato and hot rolls! And 
the platters of steaming corn, served because of its 
popularity. From bouillon to salted almonds and 
candy, the refreshments seemed to be a success and 
the councillors saw to it that each girl had all she 
wanted. The hour was early, even if dinner was a 
trifle late. 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 245 

More than one heart beat a little faster when the 
table which held the three cups and little packages 
marked with different names was moved to the 
center. Chairs were moved back and turned to face 
in the right direction. The head councillors, in a 
brief speech full of charm and sincerity, spoke of 
the camp ideals and of what these prizes would rep¬ 
resent, then began to call the names and present to 
each the prize which she had worked for and won. 
Not all could win distinction. Some girlish hopes 
were bound to be disappointed, either when expec¬ 
tation was greater than the facts warranted, or 
when the contest was so close that no one could 
tell how the vote would turn. 

Hilary won the ring; Lilian, Cathalina, Eloise and 
Isabel, pins. Hilary’s record was unblemished by 
any tardiness or absence. She had identified birds 
and flowers, taken the hikes, climbed Mt. Washing¬ 
ton, and had been so generally helpful and well liked 
that some of the girls had voted for her to have 
the senior cup. Lilian had won the tennis tourna¬ 
ment, and Cathalina had won second place, having 
vanquished all her opponents but Lilian. Isabel, in 
addition to a long list of activities, had won the 
swimming meet. Eloise, like Lilian, had been espe¬ 
cially good with the musical affairs, and had made 
points in all lines. Both musical notes and a pad¬ 
dle for canoeing were on her headband, with the 


246 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


usual symbols. Betty had not quite enough points 
for a pin, but received arm band and diamond. 

The suspense was great when it came to awarding 
the honor cups to the girls who had been considered 
and voted the best campers. Frances of the seniors, 
Charlotte Young of the intermediates, a sweet girl, 
whose election was practically unanimous, and little 
June Lancaster of the juniors, were announced. 
June was quite overcome and went forward for her 
trophy in great trepidation, while Hilary beamed 
with pride in her little sister. The girls in excited 
groups gathered to see the prizes of those who had 
won them, and then gradually left the dining hall, 
looking back to see the prettily decorated tables and 
the tired, but happy councillors who were about to 
consume the rest of the chicken! 

The great event was over. Packing and leave- 
taking were close at hand. A few days more saw the 
girls on the eve of their final departure. Many times 
had they floated away from the little dock, but 
always to return. 

The house party planned by Cathalina was really 
to be carried out. The girls' trunks were to go by 
train to New York, but Mrs. Van Buskirk and Philip 
were to meet them with the big car in Bath, whence 
by easy stages they would travel to the Van Buskirk 
home. Cathalina, Lilian, Hilary, Betty, Campbell 
and Philip were the young people of the party 


THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 247 


Philip and Campbell would drive the car by turns. 

At last all were ready. The boats were waiting. 
A bright sun had shone out, after a dark morning, 
to render the last pictures of Merrymeeting things of 
beauty and a joy forever. As the boats moved off, 
there was waving of many hands to the few campers 
left standing upon the dock. 

An unexpected hush fell upon the girls in the 
Aeolus, and to Isabel’s great surprise she felt a 
lump in her throat and several tears trickling down 
her cheeks. Two or three of the girls were openly 
crying. 

“Mercy, girls,” said Isabel, “this will never do! 
Come on and sing! Lilian and Eloise, start some¬ 
thing!” 

“Camping Days,” suggested Eloise, and in a mo¬ 
ment, to the old tune of “College Days”, the cheer¬ 
ful voices of contented campers, looking forward 
to their trip and home, mingled with the chugging 
of the engine and the splashing of waters. 

Don’t you remember those camping days ?— 
Peppy girls and their peppy ways. 

Swims and hikes to beat the band, 

H’m—m’m, and wasn’t it grand? 

Plenty of things for you to do, 

Volley, basketball, tennis, too; 


248 THE GREYCLIFF GIRLS IN CAMP 


Time went so fast, it couldn’t last,— 

Back in those camping days! 

Don’t you remember those camp fire nights. 
After the sunset’s glowing lights? 

Songs we sang and cheers so loud, 

H’m—m’m, a-nd the great old crowd 
Starts to Brunswick, city of dreams. 

Never will get there, so it seems, 

Time went so fast, it couldn’t last, 

Back in those camping days. 

When you’re home, you’ll think of the fun 
In days of rain or days of sun. 

One point off if you were late, 

H’m—m’m, and wasn’t it great? 

Don’t you remember the Sunday Moon? 
Hope next summer will come real soon! 
Time went so fast, it couldn’t last,— 

Back in those camping days! 


THE END. 


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Splendid stories of the Adventures 
of a Group of Charming Girls. 


THE BLUE GRASS SEMINARY GIRLS’ VACATION ADVEN¬ 
TURES; or, Shirley Willing to the Rescue. 

THE BLUE GRASS SEMINARY GIRLS’ CHRISTMAS HOLI¬ 
DAYS; or, A Four Weeks’ Tour with the Giee Club. 

THE BLUE GRASS SEMINARY GIRLS IN THE MOUNTAINS; 
or, Shirley Willing on a Mission of Peace. 

THE BLUE GRASS SEMINARY GIRLS ON THE WATER; or, 
Exciting Adventures on a Summerer’s Cruise Through 
the Panama Canal. 


The Mildred Series 

BY MARTHA FINLEY 

For Girls 12 to 16 Years. 

All Cloth Bound Copyright Titles 
PRICE, 65 CENTS EACH 

A Companion Series to the famous 
“Elsie” books by the same author. 


MILDRED KEITH MILDRED'S MARRIED LIFE 

MILDRED AT ROSELAND MILDRED AT HOME 

MILDRED AND ELSIE MILDRED’S BOYS AND GIRLS 

MILDRED’S NEW DAUGHTER 


For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price 

by the Publishers 

A. L. BURT COMPANY 

114-120 EAST 23rd STREET NEW YORK 




THE-BIUE GRASS SEMINARY GIRLS 

* IN THB X 
MOUNTAINS 

BY CAROLYN JUDSON 
BURN E_TT 



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The 

Radio Boys Series 

BY GERALD BRECKENRIDGE 

A new series of copyright titles for 
boys of all ages. 


Cloth Bound, with Attractive Cover Designs 


PRICE, 65 CENTS EACH 


THE RADIO BOYS ON THE MEXICAN 
BORDER 

THE RADIO BOYS ON SECRET SERVICE 
DUTY 

THE RADIO BOYS WITH THE REVENUE 
GUARDS 

THE RADIO BOYS’ SEARCH FOR THE INCA’S 
TREASURE 

THE RADIO BOYS RESCUE THE LOST 
ALASKA EXPEDITION 


For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price 
by the Publishers 

A. L. BURT COMPANY 

114-120 EAST 23rd STREET 


NEW YORK 









Ranger Boys 
Series 


The 


BY CLAUDE H. LA BELLE 

A new series of copyright titles telling of the 
adventures of three boys with the Forest Rangers 
in the state of Maine. 


Handsome Cloth Binding. 
PRICE, 65 CENTS EACH. 


THE RANGER BOYS TO THE RESCUE 

THE RANGER BOYS FIND THE HERMIT 

THE RANGER BOYS AND THE BORDER 
SMUGGLERS 

THE RANGER BOYS OUTWIT THE TIMBER 
THIEVES 

THE RANGER BOYS AND THEIR REWARD 

I 


For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by 
the Publishers. 


A. L. BURT COMPANY 


114-120 East 23rd Street, 


New York 











The 

Golden Boys 
Series 


BY L. P. WYMAN, PH.D. 


Dean of Pennsylvania Military College. 

A new series of instructive copyright stories for 
boys of High School Age. 


Handsome Cloth Binding. 
PRICE, 65 CENTS EACH. 


THE GOLDEN BOYS AND THEIR NEW 
ELECTRIC CELL 

THE GOLDEN BOYS AT THE FORTRESS 

THE GOLDEN BOYS IN THE MAINE 
WOODS 

THE GOLDEN BOYS WITH THE LUMBER 
JACKS 

THE GOLDEN BOYS ON THE RIVER DRIVE 


{For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of nrice by 
• the Publishers. 


A. L. BURT COMPANY 


114-120 East 23rd Street, 


New York 















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